A Prayer to Put on the Full Armor of God

Ephesians 6:11, 14-17 says:

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. …Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

One way to “put on the full armor of God” is through prayer. Here’s an example of how to “take your stand against the devil’s schemes” in your life and family through prayer.

Father in Heaven, your word tells me to submit to you and resist the devil, and he will flee from me (James 4:7), and so I want to do that now in this prayer.

I submit my whole self to you, my whole life to you, (my family to you), all my cares to you, and my entire future to you. And I take my stand right now against all the devil’s schemes in my life (and family).

I put on your belt of truth so I can resist the devil’s slanderous lies against your goodness, your steadfast love, and your faithfulness to me.  

I put on the truth of all that you are for me in Jesus Christ, who has become for me true wisdom from God, righteousness, holiness, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). I stand in this truth that sets me free (John 8:32) from “the father of lies” (John 8:44). Fill my mind and body with the wisdom of your Spirit of Truth (John 16:13).  

Right now, I submit to your Spirit’s work of leading me into a new and true self according to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29-30) — leading me to an eternal future of glory and beauty and joy and awe.

I put on your breastplate of righteousness — Jesus’s righteousness given to me as a breastplate to guard my heart against all the devil’s deceptive shame and false bondage to sin.

I know that the blood of Jesus has already cleansed me of all my shame (Romans 5:9). I put off right now my old self, which is being corrupted by deceitful desires, and I put on the new, true self, created to be like Christ in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24). I hunger and thirst for righteousness, only by which I will be truly satisfied (Matthew 5:6).

I affirm that I have been washed, I have been sanctified, I have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of my God (1 Corinthians 6:11). All the ways that I am not enough have been filled with the fullness of Christ (Colossians 2:10). The Holy Spirit of God is in my body as your holy temple (1 Corinthians 6:19). And I affirm that this is who I truly am in Jesus Christ.

I put your gospel of peace on my feet as my firm footing against all evil.

I now have peace with you through my Lord Jesus Christ, through whom I have gained access into your grace in which I now stand. And I rejoice in my future reality of the glory of God (Romans 5:1-2). So I now approach your throne of grace with confidence, receiving your mercy and grace to help me in my time of need (Hebrews 4:16).  

I put on Jesus’s peace that he gives me, so that my heart will not be troubled, nor will I be afraid (John 14:27).

I hold up your shield of faith to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one in my mind and heart.

I put my trust in your name, Lord Jesus. I know that by you and in you all things in this entire universe were created and have their existence (John 1:3). All things have been created through you and for you, and in you all things even now hold together (Colossians 1:16-17). You are the Giver and Sustainer of ALL life (Acts 17:25). And you created me and sustain my life at every moment — it’s in you that I live and have my very being (Acts 17:28).

I trust in your constant presence and intimate love for me at every moment and in your sovereign care over every detail in my life (Matthew 10:29-31). I choose to live by faith in Jesus Christ, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

I put on your helmet of salvation.

In a mysterious way I don’t fully understand, I affirm that I have already been raised with Christ and seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1). I have already died, and my life is now hidden in God with Jesus (Colossians 3:3). I affirm that Jesus is my very life right now, and, when he appears again, I will also appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:4). And I will shine like the sun (Matthew 13:43).

I know that my citizenship right now is in heaven, and that you will raise my body in resurrection and transform me into a body like Christ’s glorious, righteous body (1 Corinthians 6:14, Phil 3:20-21). So I know that my present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in me (Romans 8:18).  

Therefore, right now, I submit my life to the glory and significance and love of the God of the universe. I affirm that you created me and saved me because you have a specific, glorious purpose for me in your universe forever (Ephesians 1:4-11; Revelation 2:17).

I take up your sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 

I affirm Jesus’s words when resisting the devil’s temptation, that I do “not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). I affirm that your Spirit gives life, and that your words are full of the Spirit and life (John 6:63).

I affirm that your word is living and active and at work in me (Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 2:13). And that I will overcome the evil one because your word lives in me (1 John 2:14). 

And I pray all these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6: 18).  

Amen.