THE WEAPON OF PRAYER
EPHESIANS 6:18
Once there was a man who went bear hunting. As he trudged through the forest looking for a bear, he came to a large and steep hill. He climbed the hill and just as he was pulling himself up over the last outcropping of rocks, a huge bear met him nose to nose.
The bear let out a growl that scared the man so bad that he lost his balance and began to fall down the hill...with the bear right behind him in hot pursuit. On the trip down the hill the man lost his gun. When he finally stopped at the bottom of the hill he realized that his leg was broken...and there was no way he could escape.
The man, who had never been any too religious (in fact he was hunting on a Sunday morning)...began to pray. He said, "God, if you'll make this bear a Christian, I'll be happy with whatever comes my way for the rest of my life."
The bear was no more than three feet away from the man when it stopped dead in its tracks, looked up to the heavens with a puzzled look, then fell to its knees, folded its paws together and began to pray. And the man began to get excited...until he heard the bear say....."Lord, bless this food of which I'm about to partake. Amen"
Today we are going to talk about prayer...but in a context different than we may often think of it. We've been looking at the subject of spiritual warfare, and we've seen that for us to be able to cast down Satan's strongholds we need to have the appropriate spiritual weapons.
2 Corinthians 10:4 tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal...which means they aren't physical or material...not bombs or bullets or tanks or planes...but they do have divine power to demolish Satan's strongholds. We're beginning to go on the offensive.
And I believe that Scripture reveals 4 main spiritual weapons of attack...4 powerful weapons that when used properly will enable us to see complete and total victory in the battle for righteousness and the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
These are prayer...praise...preaching...and testimony. Today we will look at the first and most important area - which is prayer. Now I want to qualify myself by saying that prayer is much more than a weapon. There are many different aspects of prayer...but I firmly believe that this is the most powerful of all the weapons God has committed to us.
Turn with me to Ephesians 6...which should be quite familiar to most by now...and I want to look at verse 18. Beginning in verse 10 Paul speaks about the armor of God...and he lists the 6 items of defensive armor, which we talked about in detail. But then he says in verse 18: "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests."
This is the place where Paul moves from the defensive to offensive. It's no accident that this comes immediately after the list of defensive armor. Here he mentions the greatest of all weapons of attack... which is prayer.
Since we're speaking of warfare...it may be good to think of prayer as an ICBM. This is a missile that is launched by an advanced guidance system from one continent to destroy an assigned target on a completely different continent. For years we had many of these aimed at the former Soviet Union, as they had at us.
Prayer is like that ICBM...because with it we can launch an assault on Satan's strongholds anywhere...even in the heavenlies. Prayer has the capability of reaching and affecting every place in existence. Prayer can shake both heaven and earth when it is given according to the pattern set forth in Scripture.
A good example of a prayer of attack is found in Acts 12:1-6. (READ) In this passage we find that the church had come under the persecution of King Herod. John's brother James, who was one of the leaders in the church in Jerusalem, had already been executed by Herod. And now Peter also got arrested and was scheduled to be killed as well.
Here we find Peter locked up in a maximum security prison. And Herod was so determined that no one would be able to rescue him that he had 16 soldiers watching him...in squads of 4..day and night.
And it is implied that one soldier was chained on both sides of either Peter's hands or his feet. So every possible precaution was taken...and it seemed that any type of rescue would be totally impossible. BUT...the church was praying.
Now, one thing we can all probably agree on is that a crisis adjusts our priorities. And this is especially true in the area of prayer. When things are going along in a normal sort of fashion, we may say a prayer during our quiet time or at meals or before bed. And to this point I don't know how much or how earnestly the church in Jerusalem was praying...
But all of a sudden James was taken from them and executed. And now they saw that Peter, another very important leader was taken, and probably would also be killed. That crisis was the motivation for sincere, earnest prayer. And they really went to prayer.
In fact, the record says that they prayed day and night over this situation. And I think that is worth highlighting. Jesus said in Luke 18 that God would avenge His own people who cried out to Him day and night. And this speaks of intense, focused, warfare in the truest sense of the word.
And it shows us that this kind of intensity of prayer is sometimes needed to release God's intervention.
One day a boy was watching a holy man praying on the bank of a river in India. When the holy man finished his prayer the boy went over and asked him, "Will you teach me to pray?"
The man looked at the boy's face very carefully. Then he gripped the boy's head in his hands and plunged him forcefully into the water. The boy struggled frantically, trying to free himself in order to breathe. Finally, the holy man let loose of the boy.
When the boy was able to get his breath he said, "What did you do that for?" The holy man said, "I just gave you your first lesson." The boy said, "What do you mean?" And the man replied, "When you desire to pray as much as you desired to breathe when your head was under water...only then - will I be able to teach you how to pray."
Now that may sound a little drastic, but the principle remains true. If you want to pray...and pray in such a way that will shake the gates of hell...some wimpy "Now I lay me down to sleep" ritual will never get it done. James 5:16 says "the fervent, energetic prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." The words don't have to be loud...but the desire should be intense!
Well, we have Peter in prison and the saints of God praying...but I wonder what might have been going through Peter's mind as he sat there in that dungeon. The church was praying because they didn't want to lose their leader...but Peter was the one about to lose his very life! How did he handle the pressure of this situation?
The Bible doesn't say anything about the specific thoughts that went through his mind as he faced what would be a certain horrible death. But I wonder if he might have been meditating on a promise that was given to him by Jesus...one we read about in John 21:18-19 (READ)
Jesus said "When you are old"...and Peter was not an old man yet. So maybe he got to thinking that something might happen to cause these word of Jesus to stand true. And that's exactly what happened...But it took the prayer of the church to make it effective.
READ Acts 12:8-11
We find that God answered the prayer of the church in a supernatural way by sending an angel to deliver Peter. But deliverance was only the first part of the result of their prayer. We also need to look at the second part...which is a judgment by an angel on the one who caused all this trouble - King Herod.
When we pray - God hears. And one thing we can see throughout the Word of God is that God not only brings deliverance...but also judgment against the source of the evil being done. Things will be rectified - justice will be done - in His time!
Look with me now at verses 19-23 (READ)
Now, let's take a good look at how prayer worked in that situation as a weapon of attack. First of all the church prayed...day and night they prayed with all their hearts...and their prayers broke through in the heavenlies where it released the intervention of angels.
We can easily compare this to the time in Daniel 10 we looked at a few weeks ago...where Daniel prayed and an angel came from heaven with an answer. Because of a struggle with the demonic forces it took 3 weeks to get the answer through - but it definitely did come. So fervent, energetic prayer will release the power of heaven to come in our behalf. Now, look at verse 24 (READ).
This shows us that God's Word is true...especially the promise Jesus gave to Peter about not dying before he was old. But listen to me...It took prayer to enforce...or to bring about the promises of God's Word! This is what we have to understand.
The promises of God's Word are never to be a substitute for our prayers. The promises are to encourage us to pray...and it takes our prayers to make the promises of God's Word effective in our lives. It takes our prayers to release the intervention of angels on our behalf!
The Word says that angels are ministering spirits that are sent forth for our benefit...but they don't come, as a rule, until we pray through! When we pray through we release the intervention of angels that provide us with God's answer to those prayers.
We must always keep in mind that it is prayer that breaks through Satan's kingdom in the heavenlies and releases the power of Almighty God. Wishful thinking won't do it...whining won't do it...and no sort of ritual or half-hearted effort will do it. It takes real deliberate, heart-felt, focused, and energetic prayer to be the kind of offense that will defeat the enemy.
Now, I think all of us are interested in having our prayers produce effective results. We don't just want to pray...we want to pray successfully. The Bible makes it clear that it is possible for us to "ask amiss" (James 4:3) and not see effective results. So what are the conditions necessary for effective praying?
One of the foremost themes in Jesus' teachings on prayer was the specific conditions necessary to ensure successful praying. And He marks out 4 things that are primary factors for successful praying: divine will...faith...abiding...and asking in His name. I want to take a quick look at these before we close this morning.
A careful study of these 4 conditions would make it apparent that they all revolve around the one basic concept of praying in accordance with the divine will. Every prayer must conform to God's will!
Christ often made statements to the effect that His all-consuming passion was to do the Father's will. And the classic example of this was that agonizing experience in the Garden of Gethsemene where He cried..."not My will, but thine be done."
Jesus never taught that prayer was demanding things from God...but the picture we get is that of a child making a request of its parents. A young child trusts the greater wisdom, the love, and the desire for their success that their parents represent. The bottom line is that Jesus taught His followers to pray in such a way that God's will would be done on earth as in heaven.
2. Faith At times Christ showed that successful prayer is conditioned upon faith. And prayer-faith is a trusting confidence in God. And not only trusting in God's power but also in His total person...which would involve His love, wisdom, goodness, and His ability.
Prayer faith is to be a deep, trusting confidence to the point that even as the request is being made, you know it is being heard and seriously considered. And that kind of faith carries with it a great sense of expectancy...knowing that God has heard us and is acting on our petition in the best possible way that's consistent with His wisdom and love.
Now, if you honestly have no confidence in God, it is crazy for you to pray. It's absurd. And if you find yourself in such a spiritual condition, then concentrate on developing your faith...because successful praying demands faith.
Maybe the easiest way to understand how to develop your faith is to ask the question, "How can I gain confidence in another person?" If you think about it, you'll find that you gain confidence in a person by getting to know them.
Do you remember when you first met your closest friend? At first you probably had little real confidence in them...but as you got to know them you gradually gained more confidence until you learned to trust them completely. The more you get to know a person the more confidence you can have in them.
Well, how do we get to know God? One way is through His Word, the Bible. That's why Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."
This is another condition definitely stated by Christ...and it involves maintaining that vital, two-way relationship with Christ where we are open and receptive to Him and His teachings. And the key ideas here are trust and submission.
To be successful at prayer you must first be successful as a Christian. Praying and practical living go hand in hand. If you're not living right you will not be praying right. It's just as simple as that!
I know people who get terribly upset and angry with God because He didn't answer a particular prayer. But with a little digging it becomes very clear that they were living carnal, disobedient lives. The problem isn't with prayer...it was with them!
Last - "In My Name" Now it's obvious that this does not involve simply attaching the phrase "in Jesus name. Amen" as some sort of magical formula at the end of a prayer. This condition was based on a new relationship between Christ and the believer.
To pray in His name means to ask from the vantage point of a new and privileged position...of being part of His body. It's like a policeman trying to stop traffic...he doesn't say, "Stop in the name of John Q. Public, because in himself he has no authority...but when he says stop in the name of the law...things happen because of what that represents.
It is always because of who He is...not who we are. So petitioning in His name means to ask God with the full authority of Jesus Christ Himself. It's like Jesus Himself were asking this of His Father. And this should give us a great confidence when we pray.
Let me close with this. The Bible contains quite a few clear-cut instances where sincere, earnest prayers of good people were answered by God with a loving "No!" Moses prayed that he might go over into Canaan but the request was denied. Paul prayed for the removal of an affliction, but it was not removed, for very good reasons.
But neither of these prayers were unanswered. The request was not granted, but the prayer was answered and the answer was no. The accomplishment of God's will is the ultimate goal of the person who prays biblically. And such a person will realize, as Paul did, that refusal is the only possible answer that would be in keeping with the Father's love and wisdom.
God clearly tells us that the conflict we're waging is a spiritual battle...and our weapons are not carnal. But they're mighty...to the pulling down of strongholds. There is no greater work you can do for your family...your church...your pastor...or your community than to labor for them fervently in prayer.
It all boils down to this...Either prayer works or it doesn't. Either God is telling the truth or He isn't. My challenge to you is this - Try it out! Cry out to God about specific matters in the way we've seen today. And let's begin to tear down strongholds...let's begin to set captives free...let's do God's work in God's way....and then we'll see God work in a way we never dreamed possible.
