10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 
11  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 
13  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14  Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 
15  and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 
16  above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. —Ephesians 6:10 - 16

FORGING THE SHIELD OF FAITH

Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. —Ephesians 6:16

Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.” —1 Samuel 13:19
1. THE WHO – God is our shield
2. THE WHY - We have a spiritual enemy
3. THE WHAT - Faith

So to take up the shield of faith means to have confidence in God and to choose the unseen over the seen.

1. The shield of faith is forged through evidence of the unseen as such to perceive it as reality outside our senses.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen —Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. —Hebrews 11:1 (AMPC)

2. Faith as a shield cannot be of any use when our perception is formed from the natural sense.

4  Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal.
5  Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven. 
6  When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. 
7  And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. —1 Samuel 13:4 - 7

3. Our perception forms our words, which are seeds to a harvest of the seen or a harvest of things hoped for but not yet seen.

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. —Hebrews 11:3

11  And Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 
12  then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.” —1 Samuel 13:11 - 12

Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. —1 Samuel 14:1