2003-03-21
Good Morning Treasured Ones,
Once again, I am led to return to JAS 4: 7, 10 to begin writing this morning about offensive prayer. “So then, submit yourselves to God. Rest the devil, and he will run away from you…Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” These words of advice are important enough to warrant my repeating them often. Submitting ourselves to God is another way of saying trust and obey God. Listen for His commands and take action on them in the way He wants at the time He wants. God knows the most effective way for us to take action against Satan in a battle with the enemy. God’s way is the winning way! Moreover, we must learn to stand our ground and put up a valiant fight against the forces of evil, because we can claim victory on the grounds of the cross. Humbling ourselves before the Lord isn’t always easy. Our fear or our arrogance can get in the way. So can our having our schedules so overloaded that we are not taking time for Him. The same can be said for too much ambient noise in our lives. It’s so loud and fills the atmosphere so much that a person can’t be listening for the Lord’s commands and direction. Guilt is another thing that gets in the way. Some otherwise good believers won’t accept that they have been forgiven for past mistakes. The last phrase of (10) is the most precious. “And He will lift you up.” Our Father is so wise we can’t even comprehend how much He knows. He is acutely aware that we are sometimes in pain and suffering at the hands of the adversary. Our compassionate Father instructed the Son to say in MT 11: 28-30, “Come to Me, all of you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the burden is light.” As for the Father, David reminds us in PS 68: 19, “What a glorious Lord! He Who daily bears our burdens also gives us salvation.”
Arthur Matthew’s book written for missionaries mentions Neil Anderson, who wrote Victory Over Darkness and The Bondage Breaker. The latter book tells about missionaries in Argentina who struggled with little success, because they didn’t look beyond the human corruption around them to those unseen evil forces mentioned in EPH 6: 12. Since it’s been awhile, let me cite that verse here. “For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.” These missionaries didn’t do what Paul and Silas did in AC 16: 25, while in imprisoned at Philippi. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Those who have read this story know about God’s supernatural intervention that caused an earthquake leading to the prison doors swinging open and the chains to falling off all the prisoners. For years the missionaries in Argentina thought corrupt politicians were their enemies. They finally went to the Lord in prayer. God showed them they needed to change their strategy. God showed them that those who were held, prisoners to unbelief, could not leave their prison until someone opened its gate and took care of the guard and his watchtower. Then, they sent teams of prayer warriors into the cities and villages several weeks in advance of the evangelistic teams. The prayer teams would bind the enemy who was keeping the people from listening to the truth of Jesus Christ and coming to faith in it. Once the evangelistic teams finally followed, there was a tremendous response to the Gospel and growth of the church. It is why such ministries as the Lighthouse prayer warriors who pray over neighborhoods can be so effective with their pleas to God to open the minds and hearts of people to the Gospel. We should never underestimate the power of prayer.
Offensive prayer is not only needed in the mission field. It is needed right here at home in our very dwelling places. Not long ago, I received an anonymous prayer request for our congregation’s prayer chain. It was from a distraught and loving father who was riddled with guilt because his two grade school aged sons had gotten into pornography over the Internet. These two boys reacted badly to it, having nightmares and asking questions they were too young to have to ask. Their father is not an evil man who ignores his children. If there was ever a case where prayer is needed, it is this one. Satan loves to attack a household of believers, and this father is a dedicated Christian. Our children live in an environment increasingly polluted by darkness. All we have to do is look at the latest video games, the attitudes of expunging any mention of God in the public schools, and the kind of programs and ads seen on television. There are steps parents can take-things like placing their children in good parochial schools, purchasing filter devices to make certain types of TV programming unavailable in the home, placing the home computer where parents can supervise which web sites their children visit, limiting their time on video games so they will learn to read good books, choosing a server that filters out certain types of web sites (like usfamily.net does in the Twin Cities area), and teaching their children to love God, trust, and obey Him.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before you today with a plea for Your wisdom. Our world is getting more and more ungodly each day. We need Your wisdom to make good decisions for ourselves and our children and grandchildren. You gave us the faith we have and sacrificed Your Son on the cross so we could repent and come to faith in Him, and thus, be saved. Then You caused the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, so that we could understand Your word and Your will. You have been so generous with us, and for that we thank You. Your attributes are those of a loving God, Who cares for His children who also love Him. PS 145: 8-9, “You are merciful, Lord! You are kind and patient and always loving. You are good to everyone, and You take care of all Your creation.” We acknowledge that Your plan is to bring as many people back to You as will open their hearts to You and believe the Gospel message of salvation and peace. We ask You today to fill us with the Spirit’s power to discern how to apply Your teaching wisely to the problems the forces of evil sent us. Pornography is only one such problem, and it is the pursuit of the devil to tempt people with it. We dedicate ourselves to living in the same loving way that Christ has modeled for us. PS 59: 16 comes to mind, “But as for me, I will sing about Your power. I will shout with joy each morning because of Your unfailing love. For You have been my Refuge, a place of safety in the day of distress.” Through PS 86: 5, You have shown us Your heart. “For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on You.” We understand that You have empowered us and given us authority to use Your full armor (truth; righteousness; readiness to announce the Gospel; faith; salvation; Your word; prayer) against Satan and his forces. Now, Dearest Abba, we listen for Your command to take action and will not turn away in fright from confrontation. We pledge to pray defensively and offensively, acknowledging the awesome power prayer has. We claim PS 18: 30-39a (which I hope each reader of this message will read) for our own. In humility we confess our sins and offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, thanks and utmost praise. In Christ’s name, amen.
After a surprising (to me) number of 308 messages on the subject of spiritual warfare, this series finally comes to an end. I never knew the Holy Spirit had so much to say through me, but He did. For a long time now, I’ve wanted to write a series around the Sermon on the Mount, a series that would be all about real faith. So, beginning with my next message, that will be the subject. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will use me to say much about what we all need to know about what constitutes truth faith as Christ would have us understand it. All of you have been patient and diligent readers for this series on spiritual warfare, and I thank you for the wonderful letters of encouragement some have sent letting me know that the Spirit is reaching you through me. It is my sincerest hope that He will continue to use me this way in the next series of messages on faith. God loves each of you, and so do Peter and I.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn