We're fighting in Prayer! Here are a Few Tips.

On 22nd April we received a mandate to mobilise prayer as a method to fight against the wrong things around us. Below is a repost of the first of a series of articles that were originally written to guide us into using the armour of God for personal protection. It can, however, be applied to any form of spiritual warfare and intercession. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you apply it to intercession against the evil in your country and the world.

Using the Armor (Part One)

I do not know your circumstances, but I do know that the Lord knew we would be under attack and that we would need protection. Maybe you have suffered much condemnation, circumstantial persecution or all kinds of fears and doubts and do not know how to deal with it. Let us look at Ephesians 6.

 “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 firm,” (V13).

Here two actions are stressed – ‘having done all’ and ‘stand firm’. Both imply faith. In the previous chapter I mentioned that we need to be in relationship with the Lord for this armor to be effective, for it is He that does the protecting. If we do not action each of these items of the armor, they will not protect us. It is not automatic. And if we run away from the responsibility to action our protection... well, then we are on the run and the devil is in pursuit and problems will just continue – therefore we need to stand.

“Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,” (V14).

These two are mentioned in one breath. A belt in those times kept the clothes together. We need to decide whether we are prepared to believe the Bible as the only truth and then base all our beliefs on it. Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44) and will continuously try and undo your belt to expose you to deception. We need to daily fasten this belt through filling our minds with truth as we read and apply the Word of God.

     A breastplate protects the heart, which is our communication centre with the Lord and the habitation of the Holy Spirit. We therefore need to protect our relationship with the Lord by living righteously – in right standing with God. If a friendship is precious to us, we will live carefully so as to not estrange the friend. Righteousness comes simply. 2 Corinthians 5:21 states: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” We need to get and stay in Jesus through faith and obedience – do what God says in His Word and specifically to us. This is how we maintain a precious friendship. If we do not, we sin and our relationship with God is therefore hampered and our center of fellowship with the Lord – our heart – becomes vulnerable. This opens the door for the enemy to attack and God also has to discipline us. Sometimes temptation puts pressure on me to just sin only a little to satisfy my ever craving flesh. In the past I got away with it for a while before the Lord stepped in with disciplinary action to teach me a lesson. Now, however, the Lord does not tolerate much of my fleshly actions before He deals with me.

“As shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace,”(V15).

Attack is the best strategy of defense. Feet are meant to advance and so

is the gospel, which is the only source of true peace. Remember that we are at war. If we advance, the evil forces retreat. If we are passive, evil advances. The church has been too passive for too long, which is why evil has gained so much ground. If the church had been more aggressive in preaching the gospel, the Bible would still have been in the schools, false religions would not have been so prevalent, and so on. We tend to do church as we would a social club. Church services should actually be a motivational activity to get Christian soldiers to preach the gospel during the week, as well as being a celebration of the successes of the previous week.

Also note it is called the gospel of peace. As long as we have peace, we are in victory. Jesus came so we may have peace, and as long as we keep our peace, it is evidence of our faith – this Satan hates and would like to steal from us.

Lord, I am your soldier. Please train me.