#arc reactor

A little doodle of the Arc Reactor I did a few years ago

Arc Reactor

Fuck that. I'm black, in college, and writing gay fanfiction using the light of my Tony Stark arc reactor.

Get on my level, bitch.

Let's talk about Tony Stark for a moment...or at least his armor.

Let's be real, his armor is pretty impressive. Durable, powerful, and stylish. But without a proper power source? It's a hunk of junk. It cannot serve the purpose as it was intended for without something fueling it.

Did you know the armor of God works in a similar fashion?

The armor of God, as described in Ephesians 6:10-20, is comprised of 6 pieces of armor you wear and 1 piece you do not. The 6 pieces you wear are the:

belt of truth

breastplate of righteousness

shoes of peace that comes from the Good News

shield of faith

helmet of salvation

sword of the Spirit

Someday in the near future, I hope to discuss each of these in depth with you, but today, we're doing to discuss the seventh piece for this armor to be fully activated: prayer.

Prayer activates the armor of God.

When Paul writes about the armor of God, after he lists everything, he urges us to "Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere." (v.18)

It's no coincidence that this instruction comes right after the listing of the pieces of armor that you wear. You know why? Because it's not our armor we're putting on, so therefore it's not by our power that it works! It's literally God's armor. We're wearing God's armor, and when we wear spiritual armor, it takes tapping into His spiritual power via prayer that is moved and guided by the Holy Spirit to activate the armor.

"When we are being prompted to pray by the Spirit; He's awakening it and moving it [the armor]. And the things that we pray for are being shaped and determined by the Spirit. So, it's His power that carries the prayer, and it's His leading that guides the prayer." - John Piper

Prayer aligns our hearts with God's Will and invites His presence to work in and through us, and the armor we wear becomes battle ready when we do so.

Which brings us to a really important question! Two important questions really. How are you praying and what are you praying for?

Today, I challenge you to talk to God about your prayer life. This is something I need work in too, so if you find your prayer life lacking, you are most certainly not alone in that. Make time to spend some alone time with God, for prayer is a two-way conversation and not just listing off requests so having some time to be able to be still and quiet to listen is important. Ask Him to help you pray bold, God-sized prayers. Ask Him to help you learn how to pray in a way that would touch His heart and please Him. Ask Him to help you learn to listen to His responses in prayer too.

And before you know it, the armor you wear will be able to withstand anything. Your armor would make even Iron Man jealous.