Thoughts on the Armor of God, Sleep Paralysis

Just some quick thoughts on the armor of God and how to put it on. Hope it helps. I've always read it, and wondered "What the heck is Paul talking about?" How can I put this armor on?


The Belt of Truth - To me, this means not only telling the truth. But also we have to BELIEVE the truth. Much of our Christian walk is not what we do, but what we believe.

We have to believe that Jesus Christ is who He said He is. We have to believe that God's word is true and from Him. We have to stand in this truth. We have to live this truth.

The Breastplate/body armor of Righteousness - This one is self explanatory. Be righteous. Obey God's commandments. Christ told us to (paraphrasing it) love God with all of our being, and love each other. I think this also means that we need to avoid sin, and when we sin repent it to God through Jesus Christ ASAP. The only way we can have rightesousness before God is through His son and what He did.

The Boots/shoes of the Peace that comes from the Gospel - I think that this goes with the two commandments Christ gave us, but also, if we believe the Gospel, we will have peace in our hearts. This peace will help us be a witness for Jesus just through our actions and behaviors. Our faith in the Gospel will also take us where God needs us to go. Remember, Jesus Christ died for our sins. He rose again from the dead. He is God in human flesh. Fully God, fully man and He took our sin away.

The Shield of Faith - If we have faith that Christ destroyed the works of the devil, and have faith that the devil and demons are subject to His authority, their attacks against us will not succeed. They have many attacks, but Russ Dizdar has a great look at this. He often says that some of these attacks are that we don't feel like going to church. Or we feel that God doesn't love us. Those are some of the attacks. We have to have faith that God does love us. Even if we can't feel Him, or His love at a moment, He can't stop loving us. Or else He wouldn't have sent Christ. As Chuck Missler says: "God loves you so much, He can't take His eyes off of you."

The Helmet of Salvation - Here's what I think. Once we become saved through Jesus Christ, we become filled with the Holy Spirit. He doesn't leave. Yes, we can quench the Holy Spirit through sin and that sin needs to be repented of right away. But, because we are filled with His Spirit, we cannot become posessed by an evil spirit.

The Sword of Truth - Read the Bible. If possible, memorize the Bible. I am horrible here as far as verbatim memorization, but I can remember key phrases that lead me to the right scripture. I can also remember the "story" very well. In any event, this "sword" will help us be convicted of our own sin, and can help us attack the sin of others. It can also be used against the enemy, though he probably knows our Bibles better than we do. Satan twists scripture, but we can fight back by remembering what God really said. Clearly God's pure word is a better weapon than Satan's.



Also, just bringing this up because Chris White suggested it on his podcast.

If anyone out there is suffereing from sleep paralysis, it can be stopped. I myself have woken up and felt evil in my room. I felt it holding me down or attacking me. But because of my relationship with Jesus Christ I was able to ask Him to help me. And guess what, as soon as I thought "Jesus Christ" or "Jesus help me" the attack stopped.

I will be honest. Each of my (5 I think) sleep paralysis episodes were after I came to Christ. The first time, my call to Jesus, or prayer to God to stp it in Jesus' name stopped it.

The second time it didn't stop right away, and that may be because I didn't ask Christ for help, or because I had unconfessed sin in my life. I think I also was trying to make myself move on my own though. It took a while, but it did stop eventually though.

My third episode was a similar story, but it was less paralysis than seeing a shadow being in my room. This wan't really an attack, but I prayed and it went away.

My fourth episode, I had a dream that someone was outside my house, and as soon as I saw him, I knew he was demon or posessed. So I opened the door and was going to go fight him, and I was going to say "Jesus" or rebuke him in Christ's name in the dream, but I couldn't speak. So I just thought "Jesus, the blood of Jesus." I awoke instantly and as I awoke, I could feel paralysis that broke within seconds. This dream happened just as I started emailing with Gaz Parker, and just before he encouraged me to start this blog.

My fifth (I know, this is getting ridiculous) I awoke and felt pressing on my chest. It was very light though, and as soon as I felt it, I just prayed "Jesus help me" and it stopped immediately.

I can confidently tell you that if it happens again, I will report it here, and also tell you how Jesus stopped it for me.

You can also go to www.stopsleepparalysis.org/ where they can give you alot better help and stories than I can give.





Update, armor of God 9-19-11


Here's something I just got from gotquestions.org. great thought on the armor...go put it on!


Armor of God



Ephesians 6:13-18 gives a description of the spiritual armor God gives us. We are to stand firm with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, and by praying in the Spirit. What do these pieces of spiritual armor represent in spiritual warfare? We are to speak the truth against Satan’s lies. We are to rest in the fact that we are declared righteous because of Christ’s sacrifice for us. We are to proclaim the gospel no matter how much resistance we receive. We are not to waver in our faith, no matter how strongly we are attacked. Our ultimate defense is the assurance we have of our salvation, an assurance that no spiritual force can take away. Our offensive weapon is the Word of God, not our own opinions and feelings. We are to follow Jesus’ example in recognizing that some spiritual victories are only possible through prayer.
Ephesians 6:13–18 (ESV)
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, the Gospel of Peace.