An Unlikely Weapon: Prayer

" 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. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,  and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;  praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—  and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel..." Ephesians 6:13-19 NKJV.

I was reading this portion of scripture recently when I noticed a "new" thing pop up right before my eyes. It jumped at me from the very pages of the Bible..." ...praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit...". Here is Paul, equipping the Ephesians with the mighty elements of protection and attack against the enemy's wiles. All elements are carefully worded and placed on the wearer. And then he finally places the icing on the cake, as if saying, "Above all folks, do not forget prayer..." I sat on my bed thinking, "Surely. Something has to be important to have been given time and space in the Holy Book." So you can call this post one of many that will hopefully unravel this ancient open secret of spiritual warfare and victory.

The Full Armour of God (Imagery)

Lord, Teach Us To Pray

I am not a noble theologian or scholar, but I know that God cares a lot about prayer. The Old and New Testaments are filled with instances of situations changed by prayer! Prayer is a deeply spiritual activity that offers an intersection between the human and spiritual plane. It is one thing we see that both the workers of darkness and children of light do! In the book of 1 Kings, the 450 prophets of Baal prayed. Jezebel prayed. The Pharisees and Sadducees prayed. Do you see it now? Even the devil knows that prayer is important. So by all means, he wants in on it so he can corrupt it before you understand the true power of prayer.

In Luke 11:1-13, Jesus gives us an outline of what makes up an acceptable prayer. He prescribes a short, simple, fervent and heartfelt approach when approaching Him, emphasising that heart posture matters more than the babbling of our mouths.

As scripture goes along, we see Him praying on various occasions: before performing a miracle, before His arrest, praying for his disciples and so on. Prayer is for every occasion. But why does Paul add it to a combat-centered portion of scripture?

We are in Battle

No one likes to hear bad news, but this one needs to get off the bus before we get to business: The devil hates you. He wants you dead, destroyed and lost forever. He will do anything to see you suffer and die. This has been his posture since he fell from heaven- to make sure he goes down fighting and to destroy as many souls as possible.

Secondly, I would like to make you aware (if you were not already), that there are two dimensions. There is a physical one and a spiritual one often influences what we see with our eyes. (Yes, that is right). There are millions of activities happening in the spirit realm as you read this and we are divinely protected from seeing all or any of it unless the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see or discern them (for those who practice divination, witchcraft and sorcery they see with help from demonic spirits). Oftentimes, the events that unfold in the spiritual realm determine what occurs in the physical realm. This is why it is important to be discerning and to be spiritually sensitive to our daily occurrences. We often win battles spiritually before we win them physically. Paul tells us to live by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:6-7), implying that there is an existence we need to be aware of beyond what is physical. This is the eternal perspective, which cannot be seen or felt, but only interpreted by faith. We do not see God, but He exists. We cannot feel the gift of wisdom but it exists, just like the Holy Spirit does. We see Him move, we hear testimonies of His work, but we cannot physically see Him.

Within the spiritual plane are two forces: good and evil that are in constant battle. For the human experience, this battle is made more apparent as one between the human spirit and the flesh (the natural mind, desires/will and emotions)- Galatians 5:17 tells us that we exist in constant friction: wanting what is of God, with bodies that are prone to sin and minds drawn to selfish intention. Our flesh is subject to sin because of the original sin where Adam and Eve disobeyed God. It constantly needs to be 'tamed' through dying to self and discipline by Jesus' grace.

The war between the enemy and us is our focus today. The enemy is cunning. So much so that we are implored to be alert and sober. 'Prowling' is used to refer to his motions. To prowl means, '"(of a person or animal) move about restlessly and stealthily, especially in search of prey." We then need to be smart and strategic. People often make the mistake of thinking the devil is foolish and careless, hence being subject to God's wrath. No, beloved. He tried to outsmart God in his pride. If he tried God, what makes you believe he won't try to outsmart you? Also, the devil is an ancient being. He is older than the existence of the earth. Please do not undermine his ability to con you into darkness. (I digress)

I hope that the point has gone forth that we are in a daily battle with forces we cannot see with our eyes and that we need a level of supernatural wisdom and strength to sustain our victory.

A Shield

A prayer made within the perfect will of God is like a flaming arrow that hits its target and sets it ablaze.

Paul mentions prayer after detailing the military regalia of a ready soldier in battle. He mentions it as a sort of oil over our bodies in conflict.

Prayer is a Shield

David describes himself as a man of prayer. He prayed before he went to battle. The Israelites won their battles with strategies that came after or as they prayed and fasted. Their victories were tied to their submission to God. In spiritual battle, we can rely on prayer as a way in which we receive protection from harm. As we pray in faith according to Luke 11:4, "But deliver us from the evil one", we receive God's mercy, deliverance and overpowering protection. Those whom God used in scripture were all men or women who were devoted to communion with Him through prayer (except for people like Cyrus, Abimelech, Pharaoh etc who did not know God but were still used to do His will).

Special 'Ops' Weaponry

I sometimes call prayer a 'special ops' weapon. In military operations, there may be a special team that may use specialised weapons, strategies and tools to bring success. Special ops teams require stealth, speed and tactical coordination.

When it comes to fighting spiritual battles, prayer has to be employed in all stages-from onset to the end.

We need prayer to reveal to us where we have been compromised to enemy attack (iniquity and transgression or any other breach of our spiritual defences), we need prayer to bring us to repentance, know how to contend successfully (strategic spiritual operations), know the strategies of the enemy as we fight and know how to defeat the enemy's operations. We should never become too familiar with the operations of God. Having been saved for 30 years does not exempt you from the Lord's unsearchable ways or the devil's cunning. And also, remember that the Israelites never won a battle the same way twice! Each attack requires close interaction with our Commander In Chief (Christ) and this takes place primarily through prayer. Prayer is our life source as soldiers in His army and takes humility and dependence on God to engage.

Elisha prayed for his servant to see the host of angels that surrounded them when they were besieged by the Syrian army. Prayer led to his servant's eyes being opened. Many times we cannot know the origin of an attack (or even know we are under an attack in the first place!) unless we have eyes to see. Through prayer, we can receive spiritual insight and sight to understand what is going on and discern the root of an issue (like Job's story, we learn that not every bad event that takes place is demonic. Sometimes God can allow them for His glory!)

Prayer grants you advantage during spiritual battle

Persistent prayer can disarm the enemy's works in our lives. Daniel had prayed for 21 days and still, there was an almost deafening silence to his cry for understanding from the Lord concerning his visions and times to come. Eventually, the angel came to him and told him, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.” (Daniel 10: 12-14, NKJV, emphasis own). The angel revealed that Daniel's answer was granted on his first day of prayer, but principalities over the kingdom of Persia resisted the delivery of this answer. A prince is a ruler or authority over a certain region. Satan is called the "prince (or ruler) of this world" to symbolise his reign over his (temporary) reign over the earth. And so we believe that the prince in this context was therefore a demonic spirit of high rank that resisted the delivery of Daniel's answer. This answer was not physical. It was perhaps a vision, inner knowing or dream, but all these would be spiritual deliveries. The prince of Persia could not be seen with bare eyes or specialised physical equipment. All these are spiritually discerned things through which a spiritually sensitive believer can discern. It is believed that through persistence in prayer, angelic assistance was granted to the angel who bore Daniel's message. Friend, prayer is powerful to discern the devices of the enemy, but persistence in prayer is often necessary. Remember, the enemy does not want to let you go scot-free. It takes more than a mere desire to resist Him!

How Do I Pray?

Perhaps you are wondering how to respond to this blog post. Maybe you feel scared.

I would like to assure you that you have not been given a spirit of fear. You are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus and finally, the fight has been fixed. Jesus wins! We only need to persevere in our transition between earth and heaven and like Paul, fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith.

Being effective in prayer is not a function of skill. It is a matter of submission to Christ. Your prayer life is as strong as your daily walk with Jesus. There is no such thing as a prayer life and a life outside prayer in one individual. It is either one or the other. We are called to live out the commandments of Christ. Show love to others, be patient and long-suffering, be honest and generous, obedient to authority, selfless, and have self-control among other godly traits, as you seek to pray prayers that align with God's will.

Your prayer life is as strong as your daily walk with Jesus

The length of each prayer depends on the leading of the Holy Spirit and one's intimacy with the Lord. Sometimes, an effective prayer is one sentence long and other times, one may need to pray longer, not to get something done, but as an act of intimacy. It is God who brings outcomes, not your efforts in prayer.

There is much to write and more to pour out, but I will have to love you and leave you for now!

Let's meet in 2 weeks!

Much love,

J.