Can you imagine going to war and intentionally leaving your sword behind? You are geared up with all of the other pieces of your armor but you marched off to battle with only your defensive gear. This sounds odd since the sword is a very critical offensive weapon which determines your survival in any battle. Yet this is what many Christians do daily. We enter the battle of life without our offensive weapon–the Word of God–and set ourselves up to get backed into a corner in defeat. This could be because we simply do not know the Word of God or the battle we are facing.

Let’s look at what Ephesians 6:10-17 says about our sword as a piece of the armor of God:

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

The armor of God suits us for the magnitude of the battle we are facing. God didn’t merely give us a face mask and helmet as if we were playing a game of football. Rather we are equipped for every spiritual battle. We have the victory, but live in a fallen world and have to walk out our redemption in the authority He has given us. He knew what we would be walking through in life, and He equipped us for it. If we are defeated, it isn’t because we aren’t equipped, but because we didn’t pick up the weapons He gave us. The ball is in our court. What are we going to do with what He has provided?

Hebrews 4:12 says: “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.”

The Word of God is packed with life and power. The Word of God brings truth and life. Do you remember a time when you were in confusion or darkness and you heard the Word–perhaps even just a verse–and it spoke directly to your spirit and you were set free?

Here are three principles about how to we use our sword, the Word of God:

1. To use our sword, we need to know the Word of God and meditate on it.

Proverbs 4:20-23 tells us: “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”

When we do this, we will stay full of God’s Word. When a spiritual attack requires us to withdraw from the arsenal of the Word within us, we will be ready and will not have to flip through the concordance to search for the right scripture.

2. To use our sword, we need to speak the Word of God.

In Matthew 4:9-10, Jesus countered the devil’s lies in the wilderness by speaking the truth of scripture saying, “For it is written”:

And [the devil] said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

Find a scripture that pertains to your situation, stand on it in faith, and declare “For it is written.” We can stand on the Word because God is faithful. If He said it, He will do it. We can trust Him. Numbers 23:19 says: “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

3. To use our sword, we must have faith, believing we receive when we ask.

Mark 11:23-24: “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

God sets us free and delivers, but this freedom comes as we pick up our sword, take our authority over all of the works of darkness and walk in faith. Psalms 107:20 “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.” He did His part, and now it is up to us to do our part.

Are we going to pick up our sword and use it, or let it sit in the corner collecting dust as we try to go to battle without it in our own strength and fruitless efforts?