Pray the word with David Platt is a resource from radical.net.

Nehemiah chapter 4 verses 17 and 18.

Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.

And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built.

This is an incredible picture as they are rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem,

Nehemiah and all of these builders have experienced threats from the nations around Jerusalem who are threatening to stop them, attack them so that the walls wouldn't be rebuilt.

So what that means is now they're working with tools in one hand and

weapons in the other because they could be attacked at any moment.

Everybody who's building has a sword strapped to his side while he builds.

What a picture.

And just imagine you got a hammer or chisel in one hand and then in your other hand you've got this

weapon for war and you're constantly working and then kind of looking behind you to

see okay is somebody coming to attack me and I wonder if in

this picture there is a great illustration of what life and work are like in this world.

We are working, we're doing things all day long at jobs, in our homes, in our lives,

we're doing things, and we need to be aware.

So yes, maybe not in a way that Nehemiah Chapter 4 is talking about,

like anybody could attack us at any point,

but the reality is we are involved in spiritual warfare all the time.

There are temptations constantly coming at us.

In an Ephesian six kind of way, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but

against the rulers and powers, authorities of this dark world, spiritual forces of evil

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