“That Little Warning Light”

Tuesday, November 1st, 2022

Written by Rev. Mark Muckler

SCRIPTURE

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. – Ephesians 6:10-20

THOUGHTS TO PONDER

I have a 1998 Jeep Wrangler we bought several years ago. It’s a little older with about 185k miles on it. It runs ok, but not great! My sons and I like to tinker with it and we ALL love to take it out for a drive. We leave the top off for at least 6 months out of the year. We even blast the heat with the top off when it starts to get colder out. Haha. But because we drive it fairly regularly, there is a certain amount of maintenance we have to keep up with or else we’ll end up on the side of the road. Right now, the little warning light (check engine light) is on, and we aren’t sure why. It can get quite frustrating when the Jeep won’t start, or it runs but not very strong, or it squeaks when we make sharp turns, or when it stalls out wondering if we'll get stranded … We even have one of those small electronic code reader devices you can connect to the electric panel and it will give you all the codes to determine more specifically what’s going on. I'm thankful for that little warning light going off. It lets me know that I need to determine the source of the problem and address it sooner than later or I'll be in big trouble.

FOR FURTHER REFLECTION

Do you ever feel like things aren’t just working out? For whatever reason, nothing seems to be going right, or as planned? You feel like you’re always stalling out? hitting a wall? etc..?

I can’t help but to think of how when things don’t work out in my own life, for whatever reason, a little warning light inside my head and heart goes off begging me to respond in some way. Of course, we have a choice to respond with hope or with fear, with peace or with anger, with love or with hate, etc…. Sometimes I quickly react with frustration or anger. However, I know that the Holy Spirit is convicting me to pause and to pray, to seek the Lord in whatever is troubling me.

I've come learn this though, when God is moving in a powerful way within my ministry or even in my own life and family, we get tempted by the enemy’s scheming. That’s not uncommon though as it seems. When God is on the move, about to do something amazing, the enemy shows up. We are tempted to fear, become worried, fail to trust God, etc. When things don’t seem to be working out, that little light inside my head reminds me that I ought to be praying more, submitting all things unto the Lord.

As clergy doing a mighty work with the Lord, there's a target on us. The enemy doesn’t want our churches to thrive. The enemy doesn’t want our marriages or families to thrive. The enemy doesn’t want others to know about the redeeming love of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome all things. Spiritual warfare is a real thing, and most of our congregants don’t really understand such a concept. Nonetheless, taking seriously the power of prayer against ALL the enemy’s scheming is vitally important.

As I reflect upon these verses, I am reminded of two things.

1 - I am reminded of the importance of my own prayer life, to invite the power of Jesus Christ to take up residency in my thoughts, actions, and very life, my very being. An "abiding presence", being reminded of John 15:5.

2 - I am also reminded of the importance of having a core group of prayer warriors who I know are interceding for me, my family, and all the ministries that the Lord has called us to.

Be encouraged this week to pray continually, pray without ceasing inviting the power and presence of the Lord God Almighty to surround you, and protect you and all those entrusted unto your care. Be encouraged to start or strengthen your team of prayer warriors, those whom you know and trust will be lifting you up in prayer daily, praying a hedge of protection around you and over you and your ministry.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, I ask with boldness that You would protect me, my family, and the ministry You’ve called me to against ALL the enemy’s scheming. I pray a hedge of protection around us IN JESUS’ NAME. May Your Holy Spirit cover us, the blood of Jesus redeem us, and You Lord Almighty stand guard in every way. Protect our thoughts, our hearts, our minds, our very being, with Your Almighty Power. Strengthen each of us to resist every temptation of the evil one. Empower us to stand up against the enemy’s scheming, to boldly call it out, and to live holy and upright lives. For we proclaim our hope and our faith in You God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. – AMEN

APPLICATION / RESOURCE

In moments when that little light inside your head goes off and warns you of trouble ahead, when you feel like you’re experiencing spiritual warfare, consider these helps.

Contact Your Prayer Partners: ask your prayer warriors to be praying for you. Shoot them a text even and get praying. Pray Continually… Set an alarm to go off too

Pray the Lord’s Prayer: There’s power in praying the very Words of Jesus.

Songs of Praise: Fill your home, your car, your office with the literal praises of God. Turn on some music set to read scripture or to play praise music, proclaiming that your home, your workplace, your car, basically everywhere you go is a place of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the love of God.

Read Scriptures Aloud: Literally read with boldness scriptures out loud proclaiming your belief in our Triune God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.