The Christian's Weapon of Mass Destruction

I am catching up on some very old sermon notes, so be prepared to refresh your memory!

What do you think is the biggest weapon we Christians have "against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places"? 

Prayer is the language, a photo by Lel4nd on Flickr.

It's not a secret, but it is powerful. The answer is prayer. 

Usually we see prayer as a last resort, or we just don't get too excited about it. Some people say that prayer "isn't their thing," and they're "just not intercessors." But if we say this, we're literally powerless against the enemy. 

The power of God on earth is limited by the prayers of His people. Why can't God just endow us with authority that we can exercise at will? Well, what do you think we would do with it? We'd probably use it at will, and as the saying goes, "absolute power corrupts absolutely." This could be why the power of God comes through the prayers of His people. 

• This keeps us constantly looking to God, seeing Him as the source of all good things. 
• God is very careful that we do not take credit for His power; instead we must say, "to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever." Lest any of us should boast, we are saved by grace and the manifestations of God's authority are for His glory alone. 

All of this means that we expect to see God move here on earth, we need to be praying! Remember these points:

1. Heaven is Willing. Matthew 21:18-22. "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." To receive we must believe and pray. As Christians we follow Christ's example by living in a state of humility, doing only what the Father is doing, but Jesus is willing to glorify the Father by answering our prayers! John 14:12-14, 16:19-24. There are no stipulations here, the door is actually wide open! The encouragement we have is that we have only to come, believe, ask, and He will answer. 
2. We Must Believe. Matthew 6:7-8. What is it that we must be believing when we ask? We must believe that God already knows what we need. God is not giving us an 11-page application to see if our prayers are worthy of answering. He's not judging our prayer on a 10-point system involving posture, grammar, etc. Matthew 7:7-11. "...how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" God is good, and He's good enough to give good things. Faith in praying is not faith in believing that we're going to get what we ask for, it's believing that we are touching the heart of an Almighty God who rewards those who seek Him, and He knows what we need before we ask Him. Hebrews 11:6, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." You are a co-heir with Christ; you have the privilege of having your prayers answered by God just as Jesus did. 
3. We Must Be Persistent. Luke 18:1-8. Jesus knows that we're apt to be discouraged. Prayer by its very nature is spiritual, not tangible, and because of that it might seem like it's not effectual. "...now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?" This is our challenge. And this is what Jesus says right after that, "However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" This is the faith that doesn't get discouraged, the faith that believes God is just and love and will give good gifts, the faith that God knows what we need already. Believe in God, not the power of your prayers. Jesus won't come back looking for a lot of people on the speaking-circuit, people in healing ministries, people raising the roof with great songs--He's coming back looking for prayer warriors, those who persistently ask day and night, believing on Him. 

In Ephesians 6, after exhorting the Ephesians to put on all kinds of spiritual armor to stand against the "flaming arrows of the evil one," Paul finished by saying, "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints...." The spiritual armor is all for the purpose of praying, and standing on that prayer. Prayer is our deadliest weapon, and we are called to use it.

Have you been using your weapon lately? Share a story about how prayer has been making a difference in your life.