The Effectual Power of Prayer

Read Daniel 10:11-21 to awaken your perspective on prayer.

Many people use this acrostic as a simple reminder of the ingredients of prayer:
A-adoration

C-confession

T-thanksgiving

S-supplication

However, this guide is very limiting, because there is so much more to the vital ministry of prayer. Effectual prayer is productive and powerful, and reaps many benefits and rewards (James 5:16)

Prayer is not a formula; but a living, breathing power swirling through the cosmos and changing the face of both the physical and spiritual world (Daniel 10:11-21).

Prayer is our tool for communicating with God and for accessing the power of God in order to storm the gates of hell and to do business for God's Kingdom (Matthew 16:17-19; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Before we pray, we put on the armor of God, which prepares us to draw near to God, to stand strong and to resist Satan's influence during our spiritual battle with his demonic forces (James 4:7-8).

We start with a relationship with God through Salvation, which guards our body, soul and spirit with the righteousness of God (Ephesians 6:10-12). We walk in the spirit, which gives us God's supernatural peace and power and transcends human effort and reasoning (Zechariah 4:6).

The faith of the Son of God within us shields us from the devil's fiery arrows when he fights back (Galatians 2:20). By praying the scriptures, we use the power of God's Word as our sword to do actual spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:13-17).

Prayer changes the spiritual world, as well as the physical, mental and emotional world (Mark 9:29; Psalm 107:28-30; James 5:1-16; Philippians 4:6-7). It tears down spiritual strongholds, moves mountains and makes the crooked places straight; so pray without ceasing (Matthew 17:20; Isaiah 54:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Prayer:

Father God, reveal to Your children the seriousness of our prayer ministry and the spiritual power You give to us during prayer. Help us to pray without ceasing in order to do spiritual warfare on behalf of our self and the people You bring to our mind.

Remind us to communicate with You during every moment of our day. Impress on us the importance of staying alert and praying persistently for unbelievers to come to Christ; as well as for all believers everywhere, including those in our church family and those persecuted Saints in other countries (Ephesians 6:18).

Thought for the Day:

"Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan." - John Bunyan

Keep Vigilant Watch

In the process of moving from one house to another, my husband went back for yet another load of boxes. As he opened the house door, his arms encumbered with a teetering stack of our worldly treasures, he noticed a black racer snake paused just outside. In a flash, the racy reptile slipped between his feet and into the house.

Gently tossing the boxes into our vehicle, he hurried in hot pursuit of the sleek, slithering black ribbon. By this time the snake was scared out of his mind and his only thought was, “Get me out of here!” Through several rooms in the house, this awkward duo danced a duet, trying to outsmart one another.

Finally, with a stroke of genius, my husband opened the front door again and got behind the snake. The wary hunter paused for just a moment, eyeing up his options, then raced through the gaping opening in seconds and sought cover in the garden plants.

This detour in his plans and the adrenalin of his pursuit caused my husband to grab a drink of water and sit to rest in the only chair left in our house. Satan does this very thing in our lives. He lurks just outside the door to our soul – our mind, will and emotions, and waits for the narrowest opening to dart right in and cause havoc in our life.

He gives us a merry chase, taxing our spiritual power and exhausting our soul’s supply of energy. Without wisdom from above, he might get the upper hand; but if we seek God’s counsel, the Lord always shows us how to defeat the devil’s schemes (James 4:7). Even better, we can prevent his entrance by keeping a vigilant watch over the door to our soul (Proverbs 4:23).

Prayer:

Father God, if we wear the full armor You provided for us, polished and ready for battle, we can stand our ground, protected from the wily snares of the devil (Ephesians 6:13; 2 Timothy 2: 26). We have no need to fear, because Christ in us is greater than Satan and his hoard of demons (1 John 4:4). Jesus already won the victory over sin and death and His divinity abides in each one of us (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Thought for the Day:

As we submit to God, and resist the devil, he has to flee from us.

– James 4:7

Ultimate Protection

God gives His armor to all of His Saints to prepare us for battle with temptation, sickness, weakness and lies from Satan (Ephesians 6:10-18). As we put on God’s armor each morning before the world, the flesh and Satan ever get a chance to attack us, then we walk in victory all throughout the day. God’s Spirit fully clothes us to withstand any discouragement or enticement that the enemy brings our way.

The first piece of armor is to accept Jesus as our Savior. He is the Truth, and He is the belt that holds our life together. Then, we put on the breastplate of holy living, which protects all of the vital aspects of our life. We walk in peace, which comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This fully prepares us to stand victoriously in the Lord and in the authority of His power within us (Ephesians 6:10).

In addition to all of these protective elements, we hold up the shield of faith in Christ to stop the fiery arrows of deception and temptation, which Satan shoots at us throughout the day. We put on the mind of Christ as our helmet (Philippians 2:5). Finally, we take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We follow Jesus’ example on the pinnacle of His temptation, and we quote the truth of scripture to Satan when he tries to deceive us (Matthew 4:8-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4).

When we face any situation in life through our human ability and resources, we come up short. However, when the God of the universe, who dwells within us, attacks our problems, He makes quick work of them. The key to walking in victory is to look back over all of the issues in our life that God took care of for us. There is not one aspect, no matter how awful it seemed at the time, which He did not work out for our good (Roman 8:28). This gives us faith to leave everything in God’s capable hands to deal with it in His timing and way.

The Lord is always available to us, because He lives within us (Philippians 4:5). His love is so dear, that it favorably changes the meaning of everything we experience in life, even if our soul lays broken and bleeding in His arms. We never experience any trial alone. Our sin is the only issue, which causes static in our relationship. Once we repent and commune with God in prayer, the fellowship between us is restored. Our prayer closet is so filled with God's presence that we can almost see the gates of heaven before us.

Prayer:

Father God, we look into Your sweet face and feel nothing but peace and rest. We come to You in our time of need for You to deal with the issues in our life as we live in Your peace and rest. Thank You for Your daily provision of all of our physical, financial, mental, relational, emotional and spiritual needs. You always provide for us with more abundance than we deserve. We thank You for Your gracious love for each of us.

Thought for the Day:

Take all of your cares to the Lord in prayer, with gratitude in your heart for what He already did for you, and stand still and watch the salvation of our God on your behalf over and over again. 

 

Persevering in Temptation

The soul of an unregenerate sinner is full of decay and corruption. Degenerate thoughts and ideas penetrate our mind through the things we read, watch and talk about. Sinful desires then display themselves in our thoughts, emotions and actions. We live our life in this dung heap until we allow God to move in and save our spirit and renew our soul (Romans 12:2). As we grow in Christ and remember the degradation of our former lifestyle, we hardly recognize our former self. Old things have passed away, and God made everything new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Our mind begins to meditate more on eternal issues; and carnal, earthly considerations take a back seat. The petty issues of life no longer affect us and we wonder why we were ever so tangled up in them in the first place. We distance our self from the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches and the values of our unsaved friends. Once in a while, however, something will occur that will drag our thoughts away from God and back to the worries of life.

Satan comes along with his art of deception and puts doubts in our mind about the truth of God’s Word. The world distracts us with a temptation to sin, to lie about or to take advantage of someone, or to opt out of a commitment we made. Our flesh captures our attention with an opportunity to indulge our self in some unwholesome activity. Each of these enticements comes to cause us to grieve the Holy Spirit and to distance us from our intimate relationship with God.

There is no temptation that we face that is not common to everyone. God is always faithful to provide us a way to escape these roadblocks in our walk with Him. He gives us supernatural power to stand up under the attacks and to walk victoriously through each inducement to sin (1 Corinthians 10:13). He simply requires that we look to Him for deliverance. Nothing can ever separate us from His love (Romans 8:35-36).

The temptation is not the sin. The first thought comes from Satan. The idea only turns into sin if we entertain it or agree with it or act on it. There is nothing we can do to decrease or increase the love, which God has for us. His love is a free gift and is not dependent upon our behavior. We can grieve Him and break His heart, but nothing will sever His love for us (1 John 1:9). If we live in habitual sin, however, we belong to Satan, not to God (1 John 3:8). Our only hope is to truly repent of our sinful lifestyle and to submit our life and our will to God (John 3:16-18).

Think about the life of Israel in the Old Testament. Even in the New Testament, the Israelites rejected Christ as their Savior. This nation disappointed God a multitude of times, but God did not go back on His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Romans 11:26). God gives His armor to all of His Saints to prepare us for battle with temptation (Ephesians 6:10-18). As we put on His armor each morning before any temptation ever gets a chance to attack us, we walk in victory all throughout the day.

The first piece of armor is to accept Jesus as our Savior. He is the Truth, and He is the belt that holds our life together. Then, we put on the breastplate of holy living, which protects all of the vital aspects of our life. We walk in peace, which comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This fully prepares us to stand victoriously in the Lord and the authority of His power (Ephesians 6:10).

In addition to all of these protective elements, we hold up the shield of faith in Christ to stop the fiery arrows of deception and temptation, which Satan shoots at us throughout the day. We put on the mind of Christ as our helmet (Philippians 2:5). Finally, we take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We follow Jesus’ example on the pinnacle of His temptation, and we quote scripture to Satan when he tries to deceive us (Matthew 4:8-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

Prayer:
Father God, remind us that the only way to withstand temptation and to fully walk in Your Spirit is to read and study Your Word, to spend time communing with and listening to You in prayer, and by trusting in Your Spirit’s guidance moment by moment throughout the day. Help us to die daily to our fleshly desires and to walk in Your Truth as authentic followers of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:31, Galatians 2:20; 3 John 1:4).
 
Thought for the Day:
If we put on the armor of God every morning before breakfast, God’s Spirit will help us to persevere in holiness throughout the day.

Go Deeper - Part 2

 

Please, first read Go Deeper – Part 1,  before reading this post.

God calls us to go deeper into the river of His spiritual life. He wants an enhanced, more intimate relationship with us. The first step into the shallow water is to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior from our sinful lifestyle. We make Him the Lord of our life and desire to do only His will on a daily basis. Then we continue into ankle deep water and start the practice of weekly worship, daily devotional reading and prayer.

Some people fear the unknown and decide to live as shallow Christians rather than to totally surrender to the Will of God. It is so much easier to live in shallow carnality where we have more control over our destiny, than to trust God in the unfamiliar aspects of life in the Spirit (Galatians 5:15,25). However, God is calling us to go deeper. 

A few will slowly move deeper into the river. As the water rises up to our knees, it is darker here and murky. We cannot see where we are stepping or what is lurking beneath the surface of the water. At this level, we begin to exhibit faith in God’s faithfulness. We start attending more than one church service a week. We take notes on what we hear and we review our notes during the week. We attempt to allow the Lord to order our steps (Psalm 37:23). Many Christians want to hold onto their secret sins and they have no desire to go deeper spiritually. Yet, God is calling us even deeper.

As we get thigh deep in the river of our walk with God, we add a ministry to our weekly schedule. This allows the Lord to work through us to further His Kingdom. We are also more fully surrendering our will to the will of God and are guided by His peace, which transcends human understanding (Philippians 4:7). We find our true identity and self-worth in Him. Many Christians never go any deeper with the Lord. They just want to be fed by the Word of God. Their soul and spirit grow obese, because they continually feast at the Lord’s Table, without the exercise of giving back to the Kingdom of God. Nevertheless, God continues to call us deeper yet.

Those willing to follow God’s call this far find themselves waist deep in the river. Now, we start to spend quiet times with the Lord. We pray and listen to His voice. We praise and worship God for who He is without expecting anything in return. We fully submit our will to the will of the Father; and we relish our deepening personal relationship with the Trinity. Some people swell with spiritual pride at this point. They elect their self as judge and jury, and they constantly complain and criticize the church and its leaders. They do not want to go deeper, so they try to discourage others from going deeper as well. Nevertheless, God is calling us all deeper still. 

The water rises to our chest now. We start to lose our earthly footing as the natural buoyancy of the Spirit causes us to float. Our friends and family try to discourage us from continuing with our desire to cross the river into the Promised Land. Satan will also try to stop us at this point. He wants us to drift along in apathy. If he cannot convince us to go back to the worldly side of the river, he attempts to drape us with a complacent attitude of indifference. We dodge these arrows of the devil by putting on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6: 10-18).

As we continue to follow the Lord, the ground falls away from our feet. The water is over our head now. We must either go back to the bank, start to swim or drown. If we have the courage to swim across the river, we learn to pray without ceasing and to communicate to others what we learn in God’s Word (Hebrews 5:12-14). We may not be able to teach or to write, but we can share with anyone who will listen about God’s Truth and the peace He provides for us (John 14:27). We take up our cross daily and walk in tune with the Spirit’s direction each moment of the day and night (Luke 9:23; Galatians 5:16,25).

Incredibly, God’s Spirit leads us to go even deeper. We are almost to the Promised Land and we realize that we are either in a trial, coming out of trial, or about to go into another trial. Broken tree limbs, submerged and drawn by the current, hit us without warning. Rip currents, piranhas, eels and alligators threaten our life. We start to lose faith and spin into a spiritual spiral. As we start to drown in the circumstances of life, we totally give up our life and completely surrender to the Spirit of God. We realize that the only way to live is to die to our own desires, ambitions and goals, and to hide our life with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). It is then that we enter the Promised Land of oneness with Christ on a daily basis.

Prayer:

Father God, we trust in Your protection of us each day of our life. Life holds no surprises for You. Our committed walk unfolds before us in one accord with Your perfect will for each one of us. Even if we end up in a foreign country, in jail, in the hospital or in the nursing home, we completely surrender to Your will, because You have a ministry for us there. You are with us and Your Spirit will guide and direct us no matter where we live, or with whom we live, or even if we live quite alone. Your faithfulness gives us the faith to cross the river and to enter into this intimate union with You that is perfect and eternal.

Thought for the Day:

Will you accept the challenge and go deeper in your relationship with the Lord?

Maturing in Our Faith

As we age, our spiritual eyesight develops with much more astute clarity than when we first believed (Ephesians 1:17-19; Hebrews 5:14). As we view the hand of God in our life over our years of following Him, we see how He worked out everything, even the negative circumstances in our life, for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28). We see a golden thread of His purpose running through each subsequent year of our life. God’s ways are always perfect and His will is sovereign (Psalm 18:30). Unfortunately, God gave us a free will and we have a choice of whether or not to follow His directives and to allow Him freedom to govern our life.

More often than not, we get caught up in the worries and trials of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for carnal things, which come in and choke God’s Word and make us unfruitful (Mark 4:19). We also get overwhelmed with the trouble and persecution, which comes because of our choice to follow the Lord. Sometimes we get lax in our devotion and we may even fall away from serving the Lord (Mark 4:17). At other times, Satan comes along and takes away the word of faith we received from God. He blinds our eyes and we believe his lies instead of God’s truth (Mark 4:15; 2 Corinthians 4:4).

The only recourse we have when this occurs is to be self-controlled and alert, to submit our will and our life to God and to resist the devil, our enemy who prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8, James 4:7). We can put on the full armor of God, so that we can take our stand against the devil's schemes (Ephesians 6:10-18). We defy Satan and stand firm in our faith in God’s faithfulness, because we know that our brothers and sisters throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering and trials that we are (1 Peter 5:7). If we humble our self before the Lord, He will lift us up in His perfect timing (1 Peter 5:6).

The Psalmists had similar experiences way back in their day as well. They encouraged us not to ask for guidance from the wicked, not to hang out with sinners and not to spend time with those who mock Christ and His Word. Our delight is the Word of God, and we meditate on it day and night. God’s life-giving Words allow us to grow like a tree, which is planted right next to a stream of water, and which yields its fruit at just the right time. It never withers or dies, because it is constantly nourished (Psalm 1:1-3, 56:4, 119:105). We will flourish like this tree, if we deeply sink our roots into prayer and reading God’s Word (2 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 5:11-14).

We are not children for long, but we grow up in Christ (Ephesians 4:14-15). We mature in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). Our faith increases as we walk through each trial with the Lord within us (2 Thessalonians 1:3, Galatians 2:20). However, we never need to get puffed up with pride and think that we arrived to total maturity, because like Peter, we are all capable of denying Christ when life gets tough (Matthew 26:31-35; 1 Corinthians 10:12). Eventually, however, patience will have her perfect work in us and we will be perfect and mature, not lacking in any area of our life (James 1:4).

Prayer:

Lord God, Jesus is the vine, we are the branches and You are the gardener. If we do not immerse our life in Your Word, pray without ceasing and spend time with other Believers, we will wither on the vine.  If we do not stay connected to the Vine, we will lose our source of nourishment; but if we do stay connected, we will bear much fruit (John 15:5). When we allow You to hook us up to Your yoke in life, You help us to carry our load, and You make all of our burdens lighter (Matthew 11:30). According to the riches of Your glory, You strengthen us in our inner man with the might of Your Spirit (Ephesians 3:16).

Thought for the Day:

Let us walk worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him, increasing in the knowledge of God and being fruitful in every good work. – Colossians 1:10

Eternal Significance

Read: Mark 8:38

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” – Romans 1:16

Have you ever noticed that people can sit under the preaching of God’s Word week after week, and walk out of the building as lost as they were when they entered it? They agree with what the preacher proclaims, but they do not accept Christ’s sacrifice for themselves. Other people will pray a prayer of salvation and accept Christ’s sacrifice, but they never make the commitment to give their life as a sacrifice for Christ. They still sit on the throne of their life, doing whatever feels good at the moment, regardless of how their behavior is grieving the Lord.

God revealed Himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ, but most of us refuse to surrender our life totally to Him. We will give Him one hour a week, maybe two or three; but that is our limit. The rest of our time is spent in worldly pleasures that have no eternal significance whatsoever. Our life may be the only Bible another person will ever read (1 Timothy 4:15-16). What message are we portraying to a lost and dying world? Do we care about the souls lining up to spend eternity in hell because our lives are such a poor witness to them?

God wrote the message of His eternal power and divine character into nature, so that it will be clearly seen and understood by anyone who cares to pay attention (Romans 1:20). But Jesus said that if we fail to tell others about His sacrifice for them, then the stones will cry out instead (Luke 19:40). I do not want a rock doing what God called me to do. I want to be a living epistle as evidence of God’s existence. I want to proclaim His loving plan to rescue the whole world from darkness and to bring us into the Kingdom of His beloved (Colossians 1:13).

God desires that we live a life of obedience and spiritual purpose. He wants us to trust Him and not to depend upon our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). Our own strength will fail, our human wisdom is deficient and our goals and plans are futile (Isaiah 31:11). Since we are filled with God’s Spirit, He desires that we also live by His Spirit, and follow the Spirit's leading in every moment of every part of our lives (Galatians 5:25).

What are you passionate about? Channel that passion into service for the King of kings and Lord of lords. Give Him complete reign over your life and let your light shine so brightly that those in the sphere of your life will glorify our Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:16). Recently, NASA recorded sounds made by stars and galaxies in the universe. Played simultaneously, it is not hard to imagine God in His heavens enjoying their serenade. Let us join creation and sing praises to God continually not only with our voices, but also with our mind, our heart and our service. Be a living testimony of God’s existence to the world around you.

 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, remind us to submit first to God and then to resist the devil, so he will flee from having any influence in our life (James 4:7). Prompt us to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18), so that we will stand against the evil one in our times of temptation. Teach us to rely on the leading of Your Spirit moment by moment throughout the day, so that we can accomplish the works You called us to do before the foundation of the earth and the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:11).

Thought for the Day:
Spiritual victory is only won as we enter each battle clothed in the armor of God and not in our own strength. – Ephesians 6:11






Thank you, Heather Johnson, for the use of your photo.

Public Enemy #1

Read: 1 Peter 5:8-9

"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." – Ephesians 6:11

Today, so few people realize that Satan is the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). This occurred when Adam and Eve surrendered their dominion over the earth to Satan (John 12:31, 14:31, 16:11; 1 John 5:19). He rules the world through deception and temptation (Matthew 4:8-9; Revelation 12:9). 

He transforms himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). He is the lawless one and the man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; 8-10); a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44), the son of perdition (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4); a fallen angel (Revelation 9:1); the serpent of old (Revelation 12:9); the tempter (Matthew 4:3); the wicked one (Ephesians 6:16); the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2).

Satan is well versed in the art of deception. He magnifies minor inconveniences in a marriage until they grow to paramount proportions in a couple’s mind, which destroys the home. If that does not work, he sends seductive lovers to lure one of the mates away from the family. He also employs his obliging agitators to disrupt the unity in churches. He distracts Christians from God’s purpose for their day with disruptions and roadblocks. He lures unsuspecting victims into reckless behavior and immerses them in addictive vices, which ravage their life. 

As their future lies in ruin at his feet, he observes their demise with glee and celebrates.

We do not have to succumb to Satan’s trickery, however. Christ lives in every Believer and He is more powerful than Satan (1 John 4:4). Jesus defeated Satan by his crucifixion and resurrection (Genesis 3:14-15; 1 Corinthians 15: 57; Revelation 12:11). If we live by the Spirit of God, and keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25), we will not be so easily swayed by Satan’s wiles. 

God calls us to grow into maturity in the faith and to have discernment, so we are not blown here and there by every charlatan’s wind of teaching that sounds good to our carnal ears (Ephesians 4:14). He also exhorts us to be self-controlled and alert, to be aware that our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

We can resist Satan by standing firm in the faith and realizing that Christians all over the world are undergoing the same kind of temptations (1 Peter 5:9). James gives us a two-part piece of advice in dealing with Satan: 1. Submit yourselves to God. 2. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). Paul warns us of the severity of the spiritual battle we face each day; but he gives us directions for how to prepare for the encounter.

First, he encourages us to be strong in the Lord and mighty in His power. He reminds us that we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers, mighty powers and evil spirits and authorities of the unseen spirit world. Then he instructs to put on every piece of God’s armor to be able to resist the enemy’s evil suggestions to us, and to stand firm in the battle against all the strategies of the devil (Ephesians 6:14-17).

The first piece of armor is to accept Jesus as our Savior. He is the Truth, and he is the belt that holds our lives together. Then, we put on the breastplate of holy living, which protects all the vital aspects of our life. We walk in peace, which comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This fully prepares us for the fight. In addition to all of these, we hold up the shield of faith in Christ to stop the fiery arrows of deception and temptation, which Satan shoots at us throughout the day. 

We put on the mind of Christ as our helmet. Finally, we take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; and we quote scripture to Satan when he tries to deceive us, just like Jesus did on the pinnacle of His temptation by the father of lies (John 8:44; Matthew 4:8-9).

Prayer:

O Lord Jesus, our spirit aches to see the day of Your return. We groan daily with the burdens of society and the depravity of our modern culture. We ask you to draw hearts to You and to give us opportunities to share the Good News with everyone we meet. Move by Your Spirit upon the earth and help us to make a difference in the world in which we life.

Thought for the Day:

The night of a godless society is nearly over; the day of Christ’s return is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. - Romans 13:12