Christian Living

The Armor IX —How Long Does It Take to Put On?

by J.W. Phillips
02/27/25
Not For Sale

  Message Writer
  Hire Writer

Tweet

The Armor IX—How Long Does it Take to Put On? 

Once one learns how to put on the whole armor of God, it is natural to ask, how often should this be done? And how long does it take to do it?

The typical answers are: 1) Do this every day, and 2) no answer. Nothing is said about how long it takes to put the armor on.Zero! Zilch! Nada!  

Not good answers.

Here’s why. If a Christian has just learned how to put the armor of God on, doing so will take a lot of time.

Therefore, when factoring in the time used for bible study and prayer, the default becomes to quit putting the armor on, at least on a daily basis. Instead, the armor is put on only when the assaults of Satan become hot and heavy. And that may be too late.

Those who insists the armor must be put on each day remind us that no soldier goes to sleep with his armor on. True, but no soldier wears armor every day of his life, either. He wears it when he needs it.

Let me attempt a more specific and nuanced answer, mindful as I do so that this is an interpretation inviting brighter lights to shine.

Soon after learning how to put on the whole armor of God, it will be immensely helpful to do this every day, at least in the beginning.

Remember, before soldiers become soldiers, they go to boot camp. It is there where intense training is provided before they ever show up for their first assignment.

Due to the need to embed new skills that will be needed on the field of battle, there’s a lot of repetition in boot camp.

Putting on the armor is one of these skills; and to gain it, attending a lecture isn’t enough. Practice is needed—enough practice until this becomes an acquired, instinctive skill.

Would it not make sense, then, to say that something like this is needed if we’re going to be in the Lord’s army?

Keep putting the armor on!

Learn, more and more each day, about its functions!

Experience the benefits of that armor being on, repeatedly!

What other principles are relevant to this issue: the time needed for putting on the armor?

When scanning Ephesians 6, the passage that introduces us to the spiritual armor, there are several clues regarding the frequency of putting the armor on. For example, verse 13 says “that you may be able to stand in the evil day.” That’s a clue.

But isn’t every day an evil day? No, every day may have evil in the day, but this term suggests a time when the assaults of evil intensify, a time when a campaign of evil has launched in a full-attack mode.

It is significant that after Jesus dealt with the devil in the wilderness, we are told, “then the devil left him” (Matthew 4:11). Clearly, not every day was like that day.

There are seasons in life, times of respite, times of recuperation and refreshment, times of enjoyment and pleasure. Warfare isn’t always the agenda of the day.

But as with Jesus, so also with us, the devil comes back. There’s no “one-and-done” with him, at least in terms of our call to engage in spiritual warfare.

When further contemplating what Paul meant about “the evil day,” we wonder: Does that mean wait until the evil day before you put on the armor? Some would say, no, because there is such a thing as a surprise attack.

Is there? Well, yes and no.

Satan wishes he could execute a surprise attack! But I would submit there are scriptural safeguards against that.

Psalm 91 speaks of the “terror by night” and “the pestilence that walks in darkness.”

Night! The perfect time for a surprise attack!

But there’s an immunity from that!

According to this psalm this immunity comes: first, by dwelling in the secret place, meaning an ongoing intimacy with God (Psalm 91:1); and second, by vocalizing faith each day, saying God is our refuge and fortress (Psalm 91:2).

The remainder of Psalm 91 describes with much detail how complete and remarkable God’s protection is from surprise attacks, night or day.

The point is we’re not in this battle alone. God knows all about surprise attacks and is willing to prevent them from being a surprise.

There have been many testimonies from believers who heard God tell them not to go to work at the World Trade Center that day of the 9/11 attack.

There are also testimonies when God told a believer not to drive down a certain street he routinely travels, but the believer dismissed that, and the accident happened.

Additionally, there’s a role for us to play in this endeavor. Scripture tells us to be sober, to be alert that Satan is walking around like a mighty lion seeking whom he may destroy (I Peter 5:8).

Now, if this call to alertness isn’t going to work, why would God tell us to do that?

Answer: It will work!

God will furnish the needed wisdom for it to work (James 1:5).

Therefore, to assume we are all helpless in the face of surprise attacks just isn’t true.

Back to the question of how often do we put the armor on. The first part of the armor, experiencing the presence of God … yes, that’s daily. It is, as Psalm 91 reminds us, a prerequisite for God’s constant protection, as well as the fulfillment of our deepest desire.

You will recall that we access God’s presence through his blood.

By the very nature of the imagery this conjures up—his back shredded by that bone-laced whip, his brow pierced by those deep-penetrating thorns, his hands pierced by those pounded nails, his side gashed by that hurled spear—it doesn’t take long for emotions to surface and for deep gratitude to trigger. The fervent praise that results releases the presence of God.

Putting on the breast plate also doesn’t take long, once we repented of any recent sin, which the first step required as we availed ourselves to the sprinkling of the blood (Hebrews 12:24). Guided by the understanding furnished us by this second part of our armor, we declare our self guilt free and our nature perfect. That’s it.

Doing this gives us peace, which is what the third part of the armor portends, our ability to walk in peace. Stable. Sure. Steady. So that step doesn’t take a long time, either. Peace is a byproduct.

True, we don’t rush through these steps with mindless acknowledgments: Check. Check. Check.

We recall. We reflect. We rejoice. And that prepares us for the fourth step.

Interestingly, Scripture introduces this step with the words, “above all things.” Whether these words suggests supremacy in these steps, or, as others translate it “above all,” suggests priority in these steps, linguists can debate.

But this much is clear. When it comes to the shield, helmet, and sword, the battle is on!

That may not be true for the first three steps.

Picture the scene of battle. You wouldn’t use the shield and sword in your tent, would you? And you probably wouldn’t wear your helmet there either.

While there is no scriptural formula for how much time we should spend putting the armor on each day, there is a clue here worth pondering.

Before going into the day, we should anticipate what we are likely to face that day. Much of this is knowable to us already—certain relationships at work, issues with the kids, decisions that have to be made, adversaries we will encounter.

Of course, not every day is the same, so less time might be needed for these last three steps if the coming day is one that forecast less conflict.

To the extent the coming day presents challenges, each challenge determines which way we’ll turn the shield for defense, wield the sword for offense, and secure the helmet for revelation knowledge.

The time for premeditating the strategy we will use, and the adjustments we will make, shouldn’t be rushed. Gaining God’s counsel is totally worth the time seeking it.

Hence, on any given day, the time allotted to these last three steps of armor dressing will likely take longer than the first three steps do.

Again, Ephesians 6 doesn’t specify time allotment for any one step, much less for all of them, but there are some words related to time in this passage.

For example, in verse 18, the word “always”. We are to pray “always with all prayer and supplication.”

Significantly, this verse, structurally and grammatically, is part of Scripture’s instruction for putting on the armor.

It is not an addendum, a postscript, an add-on, an after-thought; these parts of the armor need to be prayed on, and not just put on.

Praying always has to mean more than a small slot allowed during our devotion time. Such prayers will be interwoven throughout the day and, at times, will claim a special time in the day.

The words “all prayer” warrant examining the different types of prayer. And the words “supplication in the Spirit” warrant an examination of what that is.

There is much to learn here, but at this point we’re focused only on the time investment needed for activating the armor.

You’ll notice also in verse 18 some other words that refer to time: “being watchful to this end with all perseverance.”

The word “being” indicates ongoing and continuing action, as does the word “perseverance,” a form of the word persevere.

The prayer part of armor dressing certainly requires more time than rattling off six steps, though God doesn’t want you to do that either.

Not every part of armor dressing can be separated like cutting pieces of a pie. There is some crossing over, some blending. Prayer one day may well include a focus on steps four, or perhaps step five, or maybe step six.

In this same chapter, Paul cites the need to pray “for other believers,” and then includes himself in that group by identifying a particular need he had: that utterance might be given to him and that he might  be bold.

Paul was a brilliant theologian, but he didn’t trust that. He needed God to help him find the right words to be delivered in the right way at the right time. He didn't just store and spew a canned speech.

Clearly, Paul’s mission wasn’t over yet. The days ahead would be challenging.

Focusing on these upcoming days required proper usage of the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, and Paul knew it.

The point here is that Paul did what we must do: looked ahead, anticipated his need, adjusted his armor in advance. 

This dimension, due to its inclusion of others, also factors in to the time we give for putting on the armor.

Hopefully, some of these comments have, and will, advance your understanding about the time needed to put on God’s armor.

If we have no guidance for this issue, which is probably the case for most people in the church, an impossible view will soon hold sway: that putting on the armor requires an inordinate amount of time.

Therefore, many people will give up and leave the armor unused most of the time.

We need to give God’s people more help than that. Just saying put the armor on every day doesn’t do that.