(Excerpted from Cheryl Gnagey's book, Spiritual Healing: The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 8)
"Last, but certainly not least, are our prayers and petitions at all times--times of success, failure, ease, and attack. By praying ahead of time, we are more alert to the attacks the enemy will bring against us. By praying, we are able to put all the rest of the armor to work for our victory over the sin in our lives. Do you see how interconnected the armor and constant prayer are? Prayers and petitions to God are the oil in the oil can that the rusted Tin Man so desperately needed to move effectively in his 'body armor.' Without the oil, he was destined to be immoveable forever!
With no desire to drive out the gods in our lives, we stand no chance of overcoming them. When we have no desire to drive out the evil in us, we tend to walk in evil, leaving the sin in our hearts for the enemy to use against us over and over. If we want to win spiritual victories, we must make the conscious decision to apply (put on) and implement (use) the every piece of the armor of which Paul speaks. It's not a gift that we receive that works all by itself! The full armor of God becomes a useless protection and weapon to us when we allow our gods to keep us from fully following after God and all of His ways. Laziness in our spiritual walk, including our prayer life, not only renders the armor useless, but it also renders the armor-bearing soldier useless as well."
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