History's annals are bursting at the seams with the kingdoms of men that have appeared onto the world's scene and dazzled onlookers with their respective majesty and glory; mighty empires have been erected, full of militaristic and economic power that had proven invincible to every opponent, save Time's merciless onslaught. There is, however, one thing we know for sure about any and all nations, kingdoms, and empires—they all inevitably fall. The duration of their span of influence is attributable to a number of factors, some of which are leadership, access to natural resources, technology, agriculture, and the like. But one vital determinant to a kingdom's ability to last and flourish rests in its ability to defend itself and to be able to advance its own agenda(s). Advancing said agendas is contingent on the weaponry of the kingdom, the ability of the potentate to lead, and the ability of the soldiers to use those weapons.
For we who hold to the faith once for all delivered to the saints, we clearly (or at least we should) understand the unique nature of our dual citizenship. The Scriptures are crystal clear concerning our positional status with Christ in Heaven; those born again are even now, with Him, at His feet in Heaven spiritually, even as our physical bodies sojourn here, naturally citizens of our respective countries here.
I've said this to say that our Heavenly citizenship overrules our earthly one and we should be advancing the agenda(s) of Christ, our only King. The Church, the Body of Christ, has only two weapons, whereas the kingdoms of this world wield hundreds, even thousands of weapons. The weapons of the Church are the Holy Scriptures and prayer. That's it. (If you need proof about that see Matt. 4:3-11; I Kin. 18:36-39; Acts 4:23-31; 12:5; Heb. 4:12-13; John 17:17.) Christ told Pontius Pilate in John 18:36 that His kingdom is not of this world, and because of that, His servants would not fight to prevent His arrest and death. Yet now, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, we do fight—not to keep Christ from sacrificing Himself (which He has done once for all) but to advance the boundaries of His Kingdom with His Gospel within the very hearts of men. The Gospel is the mandate of the Church.
Those of us who are born again love Christ and His Word. We love the lost and we hate sin in ourselves and in the world. Satan is the originator of all sin and he is a spiritual being, far more powerful than the human race combined. We need strong weapons to fight him and one of our chief weapons is prayer. We don't focus on Satan in our prayers, rather we do focus on the will of God alone, and in prayer we daily submit and resubmit to Him, warring with our flesh to bring it under subjection to Christ.
Prayer is where/when we enter into the sacred Presence of God in a special, intentional way to specifically give Him thanks, praise, and to offer supplication. We know fully well that we're always in His Presence, but again, prayer is special.
Prayer is where we bare ourselves before the eyes that see straight into our hearts; prayer is when we get right again; prayer is where we mourn over our sin; prayer is when we realign our desires with God's perfect will. Prayer should be a very serious, nonprefunctory act of pure, sincere worship. Oh, far too often we go through the motions!
Throughout Scripture, God has literally altered history's course in direct answers to fervent prayers (Num. 14:13-20; II Kin. 19:15-37; II Chr. 32:24-26; John 14:16-17; James 5:17-18).
We need to ask ourselves why we are not seeing the Lord moving more miraculously in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Could it be because too many of us are praying prayers rooted in selfishness, materialism, seeking instant gratification? Oh, yes—we can complain with the best of them, but for us who are born again, each report of yet another teen cut down by gunfire, each broadcast of loss of life after natural disaster or war, each story of God's preordained standard for morality and decency attacked should drive us to our knees, seeking His face! We should not be found having lost ourselves in the cares of this life, despair, dissipation, or self-absorption.
Our hearts grieve over the ravages of sin, but we take heart knowing that prayer takes us right into the glorious throne room of the living God and there we are empowered to fight the good fight of faith. We desire to be good soldiers in the war against sin and darkness; we so want to tear down every Satanic stronghold, but prayer is the weapon to be used first. Satan aims most of his weapons against the act of prayer, for he knows he is powerless against prayers of the righteous. Satan fights to win, and in him is no mercy no love, no compassion, no fatigue, and no end of his rage. His sole objective is to prevent the expansion and ultimate victory of the Kingdom of Heaven, and that Kingdom is here, in the hearts of believers (Luke 17:20-21).
We want to see powerful answers to our prayers but how can we when our private lives may be steeped in secret sin, self-righteousness, and hypocrisy? Some of us pray publicly in ways that we don't even do privately. Some of us have no clue what acceptable prayer looks and sounds like, as we rattle away solely from our emotions and in our flesh. Victorious prayer is always aligned to the will and Word of God and in the Spirit!
The monsters of the world can all be defeated by fervent prayer; every form of bondage in our lives can be broken in prayer; and every mandate of Christ's Kingdom concerning our lives can be executed in prayer as we fully subject ourselves to His will.
We need not feel powerless in this world, tossed to and fro by our circumstances; we need not be fearful at all of the terrors of the wicked; we need not go uninformed about God's specific plan for our lives; we can not let more precious time pass without interceding for the Church, suffering horribly for Christ all over the world!
Christian, look no further for soldiers fashioned for the front line for the most ferocious combat in existence—you are one of those warriors armed with irresistible weapons! Fight!
