My premise is that this nation is a POW. By that I mean that we are Prisoners of Words. Just this past night (November 15, 2019) I reacted to an article that I was reading that I definitely opposed and found my self concerned over what I was reading strongly taking the opposite view. The next day, it occurred to me that I had fallen into the mental trap that I had been talking about in my posts. Duh! I had not separated myself from the verbal political assessment that was being espoused and assessing what I was reading in a rational manner. I had overreacted. I needed to back off, quiet myself, and pray.
As I have mentioned repeatedly, this nation is bombarded daily with words seeking to persuade us through constant repetition to conform us to a certain way of thinking that they purport to be the truth.
Have these words made us ‘whiners’ or ‘warriors’?
Do we have a voice? How do we respond? Do we even have a response?
I remind us again of 1 Timothy 2:1. This is a Biblical imperative. We are instructed to pray for our leaders so “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”
This nation is not at peace, nor quiet, godly or dignified. this nation is in constant turmoil because of the clamorous words spewed forth, for and against, everything and everybody.
This is no surprise. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (ESV) says, “But know this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unappeasable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power, avoid such people.” All those words speak volumes about our national condition and they only scratch the surface of our problems.
Why? We are at WAR. What kind of war? A verbal war.
I want to focus our attention on this significant battle that we are engaged in and one that many in our nation are not even aware of that is being waged. We are in a titanic spiritual battle.
The Apostle Paul (Ephesians 6:10-12 ESV) writes, “Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of god, that you may be able to stand against schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Using an acronym for the word, W.A.R., we are Wrestling Against Rulers.
The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (ESV) “though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and bring every thought captive to obey Christ…”
How do we accomplish this? With words, not whiney words, but with the words of a warrior.
What are the words of a warrior? Words of Prayer.
{In the remainder of the post, comments in [ ] are my inserts}
The September edition of the Decision Magazine (September 2019, BGEA) is about prayer [how timely]. If you can obtain a copy, I recommend that you read it. There are three articles in this edition from which I would like to quote to help us understand the importance of prayer at this time for our nation. They are:
1. Franklin Graham, The Mighty Weapon of Prayer
2. Erwin W. Lutzer, Praying in a Pagan Land
3. John Piper, Life is War-Why So Many Christians do Not Pray As They Ought
I would like to begin quoting Lutzer. “Let us not be intimidated by a culture that wants to prohibit our obedience to God and worshipping Him.” “Let us not back off when laws are made that compel us to compromise our conscience or SILENCE [emphasis mine] our witness.” Lutzer writes in the headline of his article, Praying in a Pagan Land, “behind enemy lines, our mightiest weapon is wielded from a position of fervent prayer.”
The emphasis of Lutzer’s article is, “This is not a time for us to pray prayers of blessing without prayers of deep repentance. We have to call on God on behalf of His church, and yes, our nation and God’s witness in the world.”
Lutzer directs our attention to Daniel in the Old Testament (Daniel 10:1-21). Lutzer writes, “Daniel learned that earnest prayer also attracts the opposition of the spirit world. For weeks, he mourned, fasted and prayed without visible results.” [then Daniel received a visible result he wasn’t expecting] “…then in a terrifying vision, he heard a voice that assured him that his prayer had been heard as soon as it had been uttered [how many of us believe that about our prayers?], but the answer was delayed because “the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood the messenger until the angel Michael came to rescue him (Daniel 10:13).”
‘Words of Prayer’ bring spiritual opposition, Count on that! Let us not try to analyze why there was the delay, but let us concentrate on the fact that Daniel persevered in prayer. That is what is of foremost importance. What we learn from this episode in Daniel’s life is that he was in a spiritual battle for his nation. Daniel was a warrior with his words and his battle was real, difficult, and exhausting. That is what warrior/soldiers face in battle. This is what we will face going to prayer for our nation. And remember, Daniel’s battle was not against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness in heavenly places.
John Piper writes, “The No. 1 reason why prayer malfunctions in the hands of believers is that they try to turn a wartime walkie-talkie into a domestic intercom.” He continues, “until you believe that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for. Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission…we have so domesticated prayer that is no longer in many of our lives and churches, what is was created to be-a wartime walkie-talkie for the accomplishment of mission commands.”
Piper asks the question, “What have millions of Christians done? They have stopped believing that we are in a war. No urgency, not watching, no vigilance, no strategic planning. Just easy peace time prosperity.” [this sounds like what I am told many believers hear across our nation every week from the pulpit].
In his article, The Mighty Weapon of Prayer, Franklin Graham related that this past summer [ 2019], he “called on believers across our country to unite in prayer for President Donald Trump.” He shares that “It wasn’t really a remarkable request. The Bible specifically commands-not suggests-us to pray for our leaders.” (1 Timothy 2:1-3). Graham continues, “Prayer is most definitely a weapon-a mighty weapon wielded by believers in Jesus Christ against our most powerful adversary, the Devil.”
Such statements found in these three articles do not sound like words for whiners but words for warriors. Words for believers who are willing to go into spiritual battle for our nation. Read Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9 petitioning the Lord for His people. Two years latter, Daniel found himself engulfed in a spiritual battle for nation recorded in Daniel 10. I believe the Lord is looking for people who will ‘stand in the gap’ and pray for this nation.
Let’s connect the dots:
1. Lutzer: Praying in a Pagan Land, our mightiest weapon is fervent prayer.
2. Piper: Life is War, until you believe that Life is War, you cannot know what prayer is for.
3. Graham: Prayer is most definitely a weapon-a mighty weapon wielded by believers.
I ask you [me included] to examine our prayer life. Are you a whiner or a warrior?
Are you, am I, willing to be serious with the Lord, regarding prayer at this hour in our nation?
The Body of Christ needs to Awaken to Pray.
a brother in Christ, deo
Living Words of Encouragement 