The primary Allowed Weapon for God’s human soldiers is prayer because, alone, we don’t stand a chance against the dark powers.  Remember, the battle is spiritual and must be fought in God’s strength, depending on the Word of God and on God through prayer.  The verbal Word of God is called the sword of the spirit.  That sword is one of two offensive weapons in the full armor of God (Eph 6:10-18).  The other offensive weapon is prayer.  Only by prayer are we able to firmly grasp the hilt of the sword in our human hands, remove it from its scabbard and wield it against the invisible forces of evil.  Prayer is the spiritual strength driving the sword of the spirit in our hands as we strive side by side with Jesus Christ to: (1) restore and repossess His corrupted creation which He has set free from the bondage of evil (healing); (2) help the unsaved cross the finish line of salvation and become disciples of Christ as they are being nudged by the Prevenient Grace of God which calls and convicts every soul to be set free from the bondage of sin (evangelism) and (3) by training and right living, prevent the influence of sin from undermining the Christian walk of the saved (discipleship).  I may not have charismatic gifts.  My relationship with Jesus may not always be as personal as I might wish.  But I can stand up as an infantryman in the army of our commander in chief.

But Jesus wants me to be more than a soldier.  I must be devoted to Jesus Christ the person and not merely to His cause.  Our commander in chief is saying, “It is not sufficient for you to be steadfastly committed to the side of good in the great war between good and evil; you must be personally devoted to me.”  Discipleship is based on devotion to Jesus Christ personally and not on adherence to a cause.  Jesus values what I am to Him more than what I do for Him.

Today, many do not want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the cause He represents.  Jesus is a source of deep offence to the educated mind that does not want Him in any other way than as a comrade.  My actions in this Great War between good and evil should be for the commander in chief personally and not merely for the cause He represents.