Dr. Wesley L. Duewel: 4. Faith is your shield in spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:16). But it is also a weapon of offensive warfare.
Faith feeds upon God's Word and especially upon God's promises until you are strengthened and full of zeal to advance for God. (Google image, Basics to prayer)
Faith is the essential and inseparable spirit and power of prevailing prayer. We have discussed the dynamic of faith in chapter 13. (The Dynamic of Faith)
a. Faith arms militant prayer by grasping hold of the purpose of God. God's purpose and your praying are interdependent. He depends on your militant praying to achieve His holy purpose.
In militant prayer you arm your intercession with the power of His sovereign purpose. All God's purposes are divinely possible. Faith "amens" the purpose of God.
b. Faith arms militant prayer by focusing on God's power. Faith refuses to be depressed by your past weakness, inefficiency, and unfruitfulness. Faith believes God in spite of the past because it is focused on God's almighty power.
Faith knows God is able to defeat any combination of forces that Satan can gather to block your way, fortify his strongholds, or make assault upon you. Faith glories that God . . .
"is able to do immeasurably more that all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Eph. 3:20).
c. Faith arms militant prayer with specific promises of God. Whatever you need or urgent request, God has a promise in His Word that is exactly appropriate to your use in prayer. It may be a specific promise of a general one that covers many needs, including the one for which you are praying.
It may be the general trend of Scripture, or how the Bible reveals God has worked in the past. Now the Spirit applies it specifically to your heart.
Every promise of God in His unchangeable Word was written for you. God to God, quoting His Word to Him, asking Him to do exactly what He has said. God will not deceive you. His whole character is bound in His promise. His power makes possible everything needed to advance his cause.
His love assures everything needed. His wisdom knows how to supply everything needed to defeat Satan and accomplish His divine purpose. His unchangeableness assures that He will carry out His plan.
5. God's Word is your powerful prayer weapon. In the Spirit-inspired description of spiritual armor in Ephesians 6, the Word of God is the one offensive weapon. It is the Sword of the Spirit.
He uses it directly in convicting people of sin. He may guide and empower you to use it in militant prevailing. It is of course, a strong weapon in defense, but the Spirit intends us to use it often in attack.
Alas, so much Christian use of the Word is merely for spiritual food, for light and comfort, and for defense. When will we learn to use it continually in militant attack? When will we make major use of it in driving Satan from his stronghold? When will we use it mightily in setting Stan's captives free?
a. Use the Word to remind God. It is not irreverent to hold God to His Word. When Israel had sinned so grievously that God was ready to strike them down, Moses quoted God's own word back to Him in a mighty plea for forgiveness for the people (Num. 14:19).
The Lord did not rebuke Moses. He honored and loved him all the more. He answered Moses, "I have forgiven them, as you asked" (v.20).
b. Use the Word to silence Satan. Sometimes Jesus commanded interfering demons to be silent. Remind Satan that he was defeated at Calvary. Quote to Him Philippians 2:9-11, and then in the name of Jesus command him to be silent or to leave a demon-oppressed person alone or to take his hands off the life you are claiming for God.
Remind him,
"You shed the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You
are guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the
Lord. Your authority is broken. Your doom is sure."
c. Quote Scripture phrases to strengthen your prayer. I know no mightier brief militant prayer than Jesus' words given to us for our use when praying—"Your will be done" (Matt. 6:10). Repeat this over and over as you stand on the promises of God.
Fill your prayers with phrases and verses of Scripture. Also fill your words to Satan with Scripture when you are rebuking him. Verses of hymns and choruses that paraphrase Scripture statements are very useful to intersperse between your prayer time, such as:
"There's nothing too hard for you, dear Lord"
"Faith is the victory"
"In the name of Jesus, we have the victory"
"There is power in the blood."
6. God's Word will refresh and renew during battle. There come times of weariness during prayer warfare. Militant praying can be physically and emotionally exhausting. As you persevere in the face of Satan's opposition, you do not always feel like shouting, "Hallelujah!"
Paul tells us that in the evil day we should stand our ground. "After you have done everything," keep on standing (Eph. 6:13). It is only human to become battle weary. You are not spiritually defeated when you are battle fatigued. You just need rest and refreshment.
Oh, how great is the strength we find in God's Word in such times! Take a longer time to saturate your soul in the Word. Sing or read Scripture-saturated hymns. You will find renewed refreshment, courage, and zeal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana, (with Jean's impressions added).
Mighty Prevailing Prayer
#143 God's Word Arms with Faith for Prayer Warfare (4-6)
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
(pp. 293 - 295) Zondervan
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| Pray like Jesus |
Father, thank You for our spiritual shield of faith for our warfare efforts. We see that it is also a weapon to use in offensive warfare.
As our faith feeds upon Your Word, especially on your promises, we find we are strengthened and given zeal to advance Christ's kingdom by using them.
By grasping hold of the promises by faith, we see the purpose of God's leading us to pray militantly to achieve His holy will.
By focusing on God's power, and using His Word to remind Him that He's given it to to us to come against Satan's attacks, we'll discover it applies specifically to our hearts and understanding.
Pray that His Holy Spirit helps us believe every promise in His unchangeable Word was written for us.
I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Today's Bible verses-
1 Peter 1:3-5 (KJV) "Blessed be he God and Father of our lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (4) to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, (5) Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
Heb. 11:1 (KJV) "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Heb. 11:1 (KJV) "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Today's quote-
Ron Hutchcraft- "You've been a slave to your past long enough. Let this be the day you claim a fresh new beginning from the Lord Jesus. Release all the darkness and pain of your past to the One who died to liberate you from it. You'll be a whole lot happier looking at what's ahead of you than what's already behind you!" (Taken from his Volume One of Food for your Soul, 31 Daily devotions, p. 31)
Today's popular post-
Lisa Buffaloe: He stood rigid, little fists clenched tight, face scrunched in disgust and shock – how dare his mommy want the bug.
It was his! He had found it all by himself as he crawled on the patio, and that slimy critter just begged to be in his mouth.
Fortunately, after a strong-willed battle, little Johnny’s mom was able to wrestle the creepy-crawly from the toddler’s hands . . . "
It was his! He had found it all by himself as he crawled on the patio, and that slimy critter just begged to be in his mouth.
Fortunately, after a strong-willed battle, little Johnny’s mom was able to wrestle the creepy-crawly from the toddler’s hands . . . "
When trials come, why should we look to Jesus for guidance?
Upcoming posts-
#144 Holy Pleadings and Argument Before God
21st- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
Seasons
23rd- Saturday's post by Lee Forbes
#145 How to Plead Before God (1-4)
26th- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
#146 How to Plead Before God (5-7)
28th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
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