My pastor gave this great description of like to share with you:

PRAYER + PREPARATION = PROTECTION

We were actually talking about security in our church when he gave this, but I’d like to take t a step further into our spiritual lives… Both of these steps are vital for our Christian walk. Too often, I believe, we find ourselves in a chaotic mess, because we’ve forgotten one of these two essentials.

When we are so much in prayer, but we don’t prepare for anything, we appear to those around us as spiritual IDIOTS. Please forgive my bluntness, but it’s true. If you are always proclaiming God’s greatness, and you’re speaking your praises wherever you go, but you can’t hold down a job, you can’t pay your bills and you can’t keep your mind and mouth in stability, you’re actually hurting the Gospel more than helping it. Now, I am NOT talking about those who have a tragedy or come on hard times, please understand. Everyone has their battles, and sometimes, we just have to hold onto Jesus a little tighter to make it through the day. However, if it’s a lifestyle of perpetual chaos and instability, you may be missing the mark somewhere. For the Word tells us, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  2 Tim. 2:7

On the other side of this spectrum, if you are so prepared, yet you never pray, your witness will hurt the kingdom, as well. We can be so earthly minded that we do heaven no good. Sometimes, faith isn’t going to look right to the world. Sometimes, prayer is going to seem a little crazy to the carnally minded, and sometimes, prayer is the ONLY thing that is going to bring about victory in your life! If we are so prepared, or maybe I should use the word WISE, in our own abilities and skill sets, we can do damage to our witness for Christ, because we fail to see our need for Him. We rely too much in our own strength and our own smarts. Or should I say, “…for in my weakness He is made strong.”

It takes both the prayer and the preparation to being about God’s full protection. When we have both, we walk in His complete authority. When we have both, we can storm the gates of hell and take back the captives, because it is no longer our own words and our own might, but HIS!

Let us be a people of preparation AND of prayer, and we will watch Him bring forth the victory!