If rioting isn't the answer, what is? Prayer and God's Word

I can't promise to understand why people riot, although Tony Evans' comments about hopelessness certainly seem to show a large amount of it. The Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination and other highly emotional events have triggered anger and frustration, but Robert Kennedy's assassination months later didn't have the same impact. So, clearly, there is much deep rooted anger and resentment. In fact, words such as these are appropriate, I'm sure:
"Why do the heathen rage"...'Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me"......"How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?!"

These, of course, are from the Bible, and all in fact from Psalms.(2, 119, and 13, respectively.) At the end of each, though we see the Psalmist, David, praising God. In fact, in the 2nd, he says before the end of the verse he still keeps the Lord's commandments, and in the first we see the promise of Messiah coming to redeem His people - and Christian as adopted children of the King who have been grafted in.

It comes down to that emotion causing the limibic system - which controls emotion, motivation, etc. - to ovrride the part of the mind that contains logic. Often that can be good - we as humans are designed to admire beauty, feel love, and so on - but when it brings people to tear down, rather than to build up, it is bad.

What must be done is to channel that limbic system to pursuits which will benefit others and oneself? A relationship with God is vital.

Our sin nature causes us to turn away from those positive pursuits. it causes one to wish to tear down, rather than build up, because the devil is all about tearing down. It is why I stated so vehemently in my first post that this is *not* a battle with flesh and blood, our oppressors are spiritual and we must fight with spiritual weapons.

The Whole Armor of God - Only Offensive Weapons Are His Word and Prayer

In Ephesians 6:11-18, we see the whole armor of God spelled out. I'll go over them all at the end, but the point here is that the only offensive weapons,  the word of God and prayers, involve us understanding we can't beat a stronger enemy on our own strength.

Remember that the enemy WANTS you to destroy because that's his goal. Don't let the enemy have you in bondage, free yourself by turning to God.When we do that, we become free, for the truth shall set you free. And, he is the way, the truth, and the life.(John 14:6) (I'll spend a whole blog post explaining this point.)

When we pray in god's will, we are first of all asking Him to help us, to mold us into the kind of people who can turn the world upside-down, as the early church is said to have in Acts. Oh, we won't make a perfect world - as hard as we try, for instance, we won't be able to tame that lion so when he's an adult he can just lay down and cuddle witha  little lamb without stuffing it into its mouth.  But, we can take back real estate from the devil till the Lord calls us home.

If you read Ephesians 6:10-18, you'll see that this is a spiritual battle with spiritual weapons, as noted. We aren't wrestling against flesh and blood. That is why, after being told (vserse 10) to be strong in the Lord, we are told how - verse 11 says to put on the armor of God.

It's not our armor, which involves blind luck, but God's armor. We should ask God what He is trying to teach us - just like one time when my job was going very badly due to the economy.

In verse 12, we're told why we need God's armor - we are not fighting flesh and blood. This is a spiritual battle. God *could* destroy all the evil and rule the world - we see in Revelation that He will one day. But, He is giving people time to repent before He does that, because of His love and mercy. We shouldn't take vengeance because vengeance belongs to Him, and He does a much better job of it.

He promises that with the full armor of God, we will be able to stand against all these things. When things go bad, remember that God is trying to teach you to grow these things when you trust Him to save you. Just like he wants you to grow the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.

Verse 14 says to wear truth around our loins. This means that we should have truth surrounding us. God's Word is truth. This is about honesty but also about knowing what God's Word says. It's like the bad dreams you had - when you surround yourself with God's Word, and know it, you know that God can defeat those bad dreams, even if the devil tries to convince you that God can't - God still can, because at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. (Phil. 2:10-11)

Righteousness is like a breastplate. That's a big thing in front of you that protects you. This is *not* self-righteouness, because "There is none righteous." (Romans 3:10) This means know you are doing the right thing. When people see and know you will always do what God's Word says is right, and put Jesus first, then others, then yourself, God will bless you.

The Gospel of peace means we should walk in the manner Jesus would, showing His love and patience and sharing His Gospel of salvation.

The shield of faith means that no matter where the devil attacks you from, you have faith God will get you through - just as a shield is held and can be moved all around.

Just like a person can't live without a head, we can't be in Christ unless we have salvation - that's why salvation is compared to a helmet.

AGain,in verse 17 the only offensive weapon - the Sword of the Spirit. Read Matthew and Luke 4 - Jesus defeated the devil with the Word of God.

But, you also have prayer (v. 18), which is both offensive and defensive. You can go to God anytime, anywhere, about anything - He doesn't limit you as far as where to stand or how to do it. In fact, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for doing it just so they can be seen by people and making a big show of it. It's okay to pray in public, but he doesn't want us to have people seeing us be our main objective. And, he doesn't want us praying in vain repetitions, either. It's about seeking God. With the National Day of Prayer soon, we need prayer warriors.

However, just remember God isn't going to just give everything we ask. As the one lesson in one of the links I sent teaches, he can answer Yes, No, or Wait.

If He says Wait, He may want us to keep asking, to test our faith. He may want us to pray more passionately. Or, He may want us to do something first before he says yes. That can include getting rid of some sin in our lives.

If he says no, it's because He knows what is best for us. And, what He has ins tore is *better*for us than what we wanted.