A Warrior's First Weapon: Rest

My dearest warriors,

Have you ever considered your greatest weapon? your strategy? Have you contemplated what it must look like to be on a spiritual battlefield? Perhaps you have. Perhaps not, but you are inexplicably finding yourself drawn to these thoughts, and finding yourself wanting those answers.

Warriors are always prepared. They are always armed with their weapons, and are never caught without. The fruits of the Spirit are a warriors greatest weapons. Love, joy, peace, patience/long-suffering, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. To add to those are rest,  humility, meekness and lowliness of heart. These are qualities that Christ himself exhibited; He Himself is the greatest example of the kind of a warrior we should be. Today we begin with rest, but we will dig further into the others in the coming weeks. 

As warriors, we must prepare ourselves: we must first learn peace, rest and stillness. It is in the midst of a storm, in the midst of trial, turbulence and turmoil that God wants to teach us peace. He won't ever teach us peace before, or outside of battle. He will introduce to it - but it is on the battlefield that our peace is established. You see, you can never learn peace unless you practice it in the midst of turmoil. Just like you cannot learn patience unless you practice being patient when your patience is being 'tested.' The secret you must understand is that it is possible to enter into rest, and to hide in a place of stillness where the enemy cannot touch you. A place where you are so deep in God's rest and stillness, that there is nothing the enemy can do to disrupt your peace. 

How do you get to a point of being able to access peace and rest on the battlefield? Begin by journaling and talking with God; write to Him just as I shared with you in my previous post, and give all the chaotic thoughts up to Him. Praise Him; enter into prayer with thanksgiving. Meditate on scripture and ask the Lord "what is it you want to do in these circumstances?" Wait on the Lord, and write down thoughts as they occur. Just ask the Lord what He wants to do, and then listen. If you begin by pouring out every last thought to Him, then waiting on the Lord in silence begins to be easier, because you are learning to silence the thoughts in your mind.

I know some of you are skeptical reading this, and are scoffing at the simplicity of it. As if it could possibly be so simple! Take a look at 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice in the Lord sometimes. Pray occasionally. In some things give thanks; because this might be the Lord's will for you. ...Maybe.

...I think I've made my point. Sometimes you have to see how ridiculous your mindset is before you can change your attitude. Let's take a look at that verse again - this time, not read by the apathetic believer: 

"Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 

That's more like it. 

Intercession is asking God what it is He wants you to pray, and praying it back to Him. When we pray The Lord's Prayer, we pray for His will to be done. As 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 illustrates, we are meant to rejoice always. We come before Him giving our King the praise and honor and glory that He deserves. We lavish praise on Him. Then, in line with His will, we pray without ceasing. We give Him thanks no matter what our circumstances may be. There's always something to be thankful for. It is His will for us to come before Him rejoicing and giving thanks and praise, to sing and dance before Him (even when we don't feel like it. Honestly, are we so arrogant to really think it's all about us? We are a blip on the radar. We shouldn't think the universe revolves around us!). It is His will for us to pray without ceasing: to find out what it is He wants us to pray, and partner together with Him in prayer! 

James 4:7 says to "submit to God." That means with your whole life, your whole being, the whole of your existence. Not just the parts you feel like partitioning out to Him, as though it were your own life, rather than His. It means to fully surrender to Him. What better way to surrender to God than in thanks, praise and prayer?  You cannot enter into His rest without submitting to Him. 

When we surrender our lives to Him this way, we come to the end of ourselves, and we enter into Him. And guess what? When we do this, when we practice this (yes, it is a practice), then we enter into His rest. We enter into the secret place, a place where the enemy cannot get to us. We get to practice our peace. We cannot and should not wait to pray. We are meant to follow Christ's example. He did not wait until after the battle began to pray. He prayed at all times, and made time for He and God alone, so that He as always prepared. As warriors, we must be like Christ, and that is to be so prepared, so deep immersed in His peace and rest that the enemy cannot touch us, and does not dare to attack. 

My dear warriors, I leave you with something I heard Graham Cooke say recently "Stillness is vital to a warrior. You have to give up your 'right' to a pity-party. Don't look for sympathy. Look to be empowered. Warriors are people who can get up, dust themselves down, and get on with it. They're fighters. They're not looking for rescue. They're looking for a side of God they know only exists on a battlefield." 

So give up the pity-party, give up the feeling of needing to be 'in control,' and let Him guide you. You're not a lone ranger - you are a Warrior for a great and mighty King, worthy of a life dedicated in service to Him. Are you going to act like a warrior, or foot soldier? Choose to practice your rest, to rejoice and to pray even when you don't feel like it. Remember that rest is your greatest weapon, and arm yourself each day. Even if you are not going into battle, even if you do not expect to face a storm, think like a warrior, and always be prepared. Always arm yourself with His peace. 

Peace be with you, dear warriors,

-Warrior Beloved


©Michèle Aimée, 2015