The Battle We’re Called to Fight

“You can’t just pray and do nothing. And you can’t just do and forget to pray. Victory requires both.”

This Sunday, the deacon shared a story that stuck with me. A soldier, preparing for battle, asked a priest:

“If God already knows the outcome, why do we need to pray? If He wants us to win, we’ll win. And if He wants us to lose, we’ll lose.”

The priest thought for a moment and asked in return:

“If the outcome is already determined, why are you putting on your armor and picking up your sword?”

That hit home.

Just like the soldier needs armor and a sword to stand a chance in battle, we need the armor of God and the power of prayer to face the spiritual battles in our lives. But it’s not one or the other—it’s both.

Too often, we fall into one of two traps:

• We pray, but we don’t act.
• Or we act, but we forget to pray.

But true Christian life—true victory—requires both faith and action. We must pray as if everything depends on God… and then go out and live, serve, speak, and love as if everything depends on us.

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A Faith That Moves

This reminds me of James 2:16:

“If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”

Prayer should move us to action. It draws us closer to God and closer to those He puts in our lives. When we pray for someone, it’s not just words. It’s a moment of deep connection that should stir us to respond.

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The Armor of God Is for Battle

We don’t wear spiritual armor to sit in the pew and wait for God to fix things. We wear it because we are in a battle.

• A battle for truth
• A battle for love
• A battle for souls
• A battle for the broken

Prayer prepares us. But we must still show up—with courage, sacrifice, and love.

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Summary: Pray. Then Go.

The message is simple:

• Don’t pray without doing.
• Don’t do without praying.
• God doesn’t need our armor or action—but He chooses to work through them.

When we pray with faith and act with love, we become part of God’s answer to the world’s cries.

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✍️ Reflect & Respond:

• Who are you praying for right now?
• Is there a way God might be asking you to take action for them?
• Are there battles in your life where you’ve been waiting—but not fighting?

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Written with assistance from ChatGPT