David
When David, the young shepherd from Bethlehem, prepared to battle the Philistine giant, Goliath of Gath, he declined to wear King Saul’s armor (1 Samuel 17:38-39). By all appearances, David was going into battle completely unprotected and apparently determined to meet his own demise. However, this young man stepped onto the battlefield to meet Goliath protected not by a suit of iron armor, but by God’s armor, which the prophet Isaiah would later describe the Messiah as wearing: a breastplate of righteousness and a helmet of salvation, clothed with garments of vengeance and a cloak of zeal (Isaiah 59:17). Thus, David stepped out onto the battlefield not armed with traditional weapons of warfare, but armed with the name of the Lord of Hosts (1 Samuel 17:45).
Like David, your husband enters a battlefield each day. However, the giants your husband faces are not flesh and blood like Goliath. The giants your husband will battle are evil principalities, powers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness (Ephesians 6:12). However, like David, your husband need not fear these giants because the battle is not his to fight—it is the Lord’s battle. In fact, Christ has already triumphed over these forces through His death, burial, and resurrection (Colossians 2:15). Your husband must simply put on the full armor of God and stand firm in the name of the Lord (Ephesians 6:13).
The whole armor of God
What is the whole armor of God? We’re told in Ephesians 6:14-17 that it consists of six elements: a girdle of truth around his loins, a breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace upon his feet, the shield of faith in one hand, the helmet of salvation upon his head, and the sword of the Spirit in his other hand.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these six elements individually in order to better understand what they are and how they are to be used in battle against the giants of evil that your husband faces each day.
Loins girt about with truth:
Your husband’s loins need to be girt about, bound up, and protected with truth. This means that the midsection or center of his life must be encompassed on all sides with truth in order to be protected from the enemy’s attack, whether that attack is initiated from the front, the side, or from behind. This “girting about” has two layers of truth. The first layer is the truth of God. God is the Rock, so He is protection; God is perfect, so there is no fault in Him; and God is truth, so He has no shadow of iniquity (Deuteronomy 32:4). God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19); what God has promised, He will bring to pass (Isaiah 55:11). God doesn’t change, so He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). This first layer of truth is the most important layer because it is inalterable and impenetrable. The second layer of truth is your husband’s integrity. God has said that He will not abide those who deal deceitfully and tell lies (Psalm 101:7). Therefore, your husband must be guided by his integrity and be truthful in all of his words and deeds to protect himself from attack (Proverbs 11:3). When your husband keeps his interactions guided by integrity, he not only protects himself from attack, but he also brings blessings upon his household (Proverbs 20:7).
Breastplate of righteousness:
Your husband needs to put on the breastplate of righteousness to guard and protect his heart (Proverbs 4:23). This is vitally important, as his heart is where God’s Word dwells (Proverbs 4:20-21). However, your husband can’t depend on his own righteousness for protection. He, like everyone else, has sinned and therefore falls short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23); this fact makes your husband’s own righteousness worthless and dirty and unable to afford him any protection (Isaiah 64:6). Rather, the breastplate of righteousness your husband must cover himself with is the righteousness of God, which only comes through your husband’s faith in Christ (Romans 3:22). When your husband covers his heart with the righteousness of God through Christ, his heart will be steadfast in the Lord (Psalm 57:7) and the peace of God will rule in his heart in any situation (Colossians 3:15).
Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace:
Your husband needs to wear upon his feet the Gospel of Peace. In order to do this, it is vital that your husband understands that not all things the world considers “peaceful” are incorporated in the Gospel of Peace. Three types of peace that are not included are the peace of the world, which is fleeting (John 14:27), peace from the world, which is a lie (Ezekiel 13:10), and peace with the world, which is sin (James 4:4).
The Gospel of Peace is composed of three beautiful facets that intertwine to provide perfect peace. These facets are the Peace of God, which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7); Peace from God, which brings joy, hope, and power (Romans 15:13); and Peace with God, which comes through your husband’s faith in Jesus as his Lord and Savior (Romans 5:1). When your husband has his feet shod with the Gospel of Peace, his ways will be led by the Lord (Proverbs 4:26).
Shield of faith:
Your husband needs to take up the shield of his faith, which is his unwavering trust in God. Your husband must keep this shield active in order to ward off the fiery attacks of the enemy from every direction, because the enemy can and will attack in any area where he sees a weakness in faith. Areas that the enemy commonly attacks that can be defended by the shield of faith are God’s provision (Luke 12:28), God’s desire to heal (Luke 17:19), fear in turbulent times (Matthew 8:26), and victory over sin (1 John 5:4). In addition, the enemy will try to attack your husband’s trust in his access to the grace of God by faith (Romans 5:2), the truth of his salvation by God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8), and his righteousness through Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:9). In order to keep his shield of faith active on all fronts of attack, it is vitally important that your husband continually strengthen his faith by immersing himself in the Word of God (Romans 10:17) and praying in the spirit (Jude 1:20). Why is it so important that your husband keep his shield of faith strong and active? Because faith in God makes all things possible (Hebrews 11:1), faith is the essence of Christian life (Romans 1:17), and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
Helmet of salvation:
Your husband needs to allow the Lord to place upon his head the helmet of salvation. The helmet of salvation is the most important piece of the armor of God because it is only through salvation that the rest of the armor of God is available. The helmet of salvation is a gift of God’s mercy (Psalm 85:7). Only God can give salvation and only God can place it upon His people (Psalm 3:8). Your husband needs only to ask for and accept this helmet of salvation, as it is a free gift from God (1 Corinthians 2:12). Once God places the helmet of salvation upon your husband’s head, it will not only protect him from God’s wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9), but it will also protect his mind from fear of the enemy (Psalm 27:1), and it will bring him joy in the Lord (Psalm 51:12). Your husband must never neglect this helmet of salvation (Hebrews 2:3) and must wear it boldly in the face of the enemy (Romans 1:16).
Sword of the Spirit:
Your husband needs to take up the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Note that this is the only weapon of warfare included in the Armor of God. The helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the breastplate of righteousness, and the girting of the loins with truth are defensive elements of God’s armor, while the gospel of peace provides your husband with guidance.
The Word of God is unlike any sword made by man. The Word of God is a spiritual sword that is able to separate the things of the world from the things of the spirit (Hebrews 4:12). Your husband must always remember that he is not fighting against flesh and blood, but against evil spiritual forces (Ephesians 6:12). Because of this, your husband must study the Word (2 Timothy 2:15) and allow the Holy Spirit to teach him the proper use of this powerful weapon against evil (1 Corinthians 2:13). Learning the proper use of the Word of God is vitally important, as God is always watching how His Word is used (2 Corinthians 2:17). Your husband must take care to never use the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, for a personal agenda or against people with the intent of hurting them; rather, he must use it only against the spiritual forces working through them (2 Corinthians 4:2). The Sword of the Spirit, when properly used, will separate spirit from flesh in order to bring the reconciliation of others to God through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19).
How can I put God’s armor on my husband?
ARMOR OF GOD PRAYER FOR MY HUSBAND
There are two approaches that you can take to clothe your husband in God’s armor. The first approach is to cover your husband with God’s armor during your own prayer time each day. Applying God’s armor to your husband in this way is a form of intercessory prayer (1 Timothy 2:1-2). The second approach is to pray God’s armor over your husband together each morning as you either hold his hands in yours, place your hands on each part of his body as you pray that piece of armor over it, or anoint his head with oil. When you apply God’s armor to your husband in this way, the two of you are agreeing in prayer regarding the spiritual battles he will face (Matthew 18:19). Both ways of applying the armor of God to your husband are effective, so long as the prayer is prayed in faith and comes from your heart (James 5:16).
Armor of God prayer over my husband:
Dear Lord, as my husband leaves our home this morning and enters the spiritual battlefield of the world, I pray for Your armor of protection, guidance, and warfare to be placed over him.
ARMOR OF GOD PRAYER FOR MY HUSBAND
First, Lord, I gird my husband’s loins with truth. Lead my husband in Your truth and teach him, Lord, for You are the God of his salvation (Psalm 25:5). Deliver my husband, Lord, from the temptation of lying lips and a deceitful tongue (Psalm 120:2), upholding him in his integrity that he might bear witness of You to others (Psalm 41:12).
Next, Lord, I place upon my husband the breastplate of righteousness. Teach my husband in the ways of Your righteousness, Lord, that he would abandon self-righteousness and submit instead to Your perfect righteousness (Romans 10:3). For when my husband receives and is covered by Your righteousness through faith in Christ (Philippians 3:9), then he will be blessed by You, the God of his salvation (Psalm 24:5).
Lord, I now place upon my husband’s feet the preparation of the gospel of peace. As my husband steps onto the battlefield today, Lord, show him Your ways and teach him in Your paths (Psalm 25:4). Remind my husband, Lord, to use the gospel to trample evil and not people, for You have placed Satan under his feet (Romans 16:20). Therefore, Lord, I ask that You would uphold my husband, so that his feet do not slip (Psalm 17:5), for his feet carry the witness of Your gospel of perfect peace to the world (Isaiah 52:7).
Now, Lord, I place the shield of faith in my husband’s hand. Let my husband use this shield to keep himself from looking at the circumstances of his battles today, for circumstances prompt reasoning (Matthew 16:8) and the reasoning of circumstances results in doubt (Matthew 14:31). Show my husband today how to use this shield of faith so that he will stand not in the wisdom of men, but in Your power (1 Corinthians 2:5).
I thank You, Lord, for You have placed the helmet of salvation upon my husband’s head. You are the source and strength of his salvation and You cover his head in spiritual battles (Psalm 140:7). Give my husband fresh insight today into the completeness of his salvation (Luke 1:77), and as he gains a deeper understanding of his salvation, let his soul rejoice in it (Psalm 35:9).
Finally, Lord, I place in my husband’s hand the sword of the Spirit, which is Your Word. Your Word was in the beginning (John 1:1). Your Word is the Alpha and Omega, both the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13). Help my husband hide Your Word in his heart that he might not sin against You, Lord (Psalm 119:11). Teach him by Your Holy Spirit the proper use of Your Word, bringing Your Word to his remembrance to not only overcome the enemy, but to minister to those in need (John 14:26).
I thank You, Lord, for making Your armor available to my husband. Lead him in battle today so that whatever he says or does in Your name brings You honor and glory (Colossians 3:17). Amen.
ARMOR OF GOD PRAYER FOR MY HUSBAND