Part Nine of Ten: The Lance of Prayer

So far, we have looked at the belt, the breastplate, the shod feet, the helmet, the shield, and the sword. Now we will look at the lance; the lance of prayer. The Bible does not mention the Lance specifically in its text [1]. To put on the whole armor of God, we need a physical metaphor for prayer, our next piece.

Expositors of the Bible agree that the Roman soldier had seven pieces of armor. Without the seventh piece of armor, we would not put on the whole armor of God. Christ commanded us, through Paul the Apostle, to “Put on the whole armour of God [2].”

The Roman soldier had various kinds of Lances, ranging in size, shape, and length. However, when the soldier went into battle, he carried two lances, one short one (the Pilum), and a long one. The short lance was approximately six feet long, while the long one was about 21-24 feet long. Throwing a 21-24 foot lance required a tremendous amount of strength.

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; [Ephesians 6:18 KJV]

When Paul wrote Ephesians 6:18, he imagined the many lances as he came to the issue of prayer. As with the many types of lances, so are there many types of prayer. The various types of prayer are:

1. The prayer of consecration
2. The prayer of petition
3. The prayer of authority (Faith)
4. The prayer of thanksgiving
5. The prayer of supplication
6. The prayer of intercession

Throughout our Christian life, we may or may not pray all six of these prayers. Due to space constraint, I will not belabor the point of each prayer. It is my intent to show prayer as a piece of armor in the soldier’s arsenal. It would behoove us to make prayer a daily occurrence. Faith is the basis of Christianity, but prayer is the backbone of same. If we want victory in our lives, then prayer must be a daily prerequisite.

There is a war raging out there in the world. I, for one, am not strong enough to handle the enemy. But Christ is up to the task. Lean on Him because His yoke is easy [3]. Before we put our foot on the floor in the morning, we should be prayed up. That commandment is for our own protection.

v11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. [Ephesians 6:11 KJV]

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[1] Dressed to kill by Rick Renner
[2] Ephesians 6:11
[3] Matthew 11:30

NOTE: I’ll see you(s) in two weeks. With all the writing that I must do, I am finding it more difficult to keep up. It has become necessary to lengthen the time between posts. I apologize profusely. I want to thank you, my faithful readers, so very much. Without your readership, this blog would be useless. Thank you again so much for sticking with me. If any of you have a topic you’d like to read about, please leave me a comment stating your desire. If I am stumped on the topic, I WILL research and get you an answer.