The Word of God
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
Ephesians 6:17
From a young age, I was taught that prayer is the most powerful weapon. They compared prayer to a bow that was capable of shooting at the enemy very far away. The Bible does not mention this. We need to understand the style of our fight. All of God's armour is given to us so that we can defeat the devil's vile attacks. Hence, this is not a bow but a sword of the Spirit. Our prayers should be in the Spirit and not just in our own tongue since we are dealing with God's armour here and not our own.
The Bible mentions two types of prayer - praying in the Spirit and praying with your understanding. By praying with your understanding, we mean praying in your own language with your own words. It is a prayer we can easily understand with our human minds. In the verse below, we find an explanation of praying in the Spirit.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Romans 8:26
When a situation rises against me and I do not know what to pray for - The Holy Spirit himself intercedes for me. The Holy Spirit prays with words that are not in our dialect or dictionary. These words are given by The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God and He is the third person in the trinity. The words He gives us are God’s Words. Therefore, praying in the Spirit means praying The Word of God. Everything in the whole armour of God refers to God’s Word.
The Sword of The Spirit is mentioned in the Greek as ‘machaira’. In terms of length, it was between the size of a normal kitchen knife and nineteen inches. You can fight with it or cook with it.
There is a great importance to this weapon. In the armour of God, all other weapons are defensive. Only the sword "machaira" is offensive. All by itself, this is a brutal, razor-sharp weapon, similar to a dagger. We cannot stand against the devil if we don't use this weapon (The WORD OF GOD). It is important to know what this weapon is.
On the last night that Jesus was with His disciples, He declared that it was the time of darkness. Immediately afterward, Jesus said, “And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one” (Luke 22:35-38). They said, ‘Lord, look, here are two swords (Greek word – Machaira).’
He replied, ‘It is enough.’
There was a battle brewing between the kingdom of darkness and light. The kingdom of darkness was ready to take over the kingdom of light. Peter slashed off the ear of the high priest's slave with his sword. “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
What was the purpose of Jesus asking His disciples to buy a sword but not allowing them to use it? Jesus did this in order to illustrate that as children of God, we should not wrestle with flesh and blood. It is not a physical battle that we should engage in with a knife. It is important to use the Word of God and to deal with things spiritually.
How do you use this spiritual weapon - the sword of the spirit? Imagine this, you have received a promise from God and inherited the blessing. This inheritance is your ground, and you are now wearing God's armour. The devil will do everything he can to make you lose sight of your inheritance/promise. He will fire his fiery darts. You won't have to wait long before the devil starts bombarding you with words if you use the armour only for defence. God also talks to us through His Words and does miracles.
Words spoken by the devil also cause destruction. You will be led by fear if you continue to do so. It is only when you really know that you will use your offensive sword (machaira) against the devil. He will tell you that you are defeated and will never be able to mount anything. Your response will be, "Praise be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus." This will wound the devil and he will flee. As you move through the world and experience various situations, the devil keeps speaking to you. You will feel frustrated when the songs that are playing around you make you wonder about life and its purpose, and who is going to stick by you to the end. Those thoughts must be squashed by God’s word that says, “I will be with you even unto the end of age”.
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12
The above verse refers to God's written Word, which is the Greek word "logos".
Machaira (sword of the Spirit) refers to Rhema (logos), the now word spoken to you by the Holy Spirit.
He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.
Revelation 1:16
Jesus held the two-edged sword in his mouth, which is the logos of God. If you keep it under your pillow or in the cupboard, you will not benefit from it. As you speak Rhema with power, you overcome your enemies and defeat them.
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