Thursday, July 19, 2018 - Ephesians 6:18-20
Summary of the Principles of Prayer to Defeat Satan
Summary of the Principles of Prayer to Defeat Satan
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
Stand in Warfare –
Eph 6:10-20.
4. The Energy, vs. 18-20, God’s Appeal for Prayer in the Church.
Summary of Prayer Principles in
vs. 18-20.
In this section we have seen
several aspects of prayer. Prayer is the energy that enables the Christian
soldier to wear the armor of God and wield the sword. We cannot fight the
battle in our own power, no matter how strong or talented we may think we are.
When Amalek attacked Israel, Moses went to the mountaintop for intercession,
while Joshua used the sword down in the valley, Ex 17:8-16. It took both to defeat Amalek; Moses’ intercession on
the mountain, and Joshua’s use of the sword in the valley. Prayer is the power
for victory, but not just any kind of prayer. Paul tells us how to pray, if we
are to defeat Satan.
1. Pray always. This does
not mean “always saying prayers.” We are not heard for our “many words,” Mat 6:7. Instead, “pray without ceasing,” 1 Thes 5:17, means that we are to be
diligent and consistent in our prayers, as well as continual until a resolution
is seen. A Christian must “pray always” because he is always subject to
temptations and attacks of the devil. A surprise attack has defeated more than
one believer who forgot to “pray without ceasing.”
2. Pray with all prayer.
There is more than one kind of prayer we can be praying: Rebound, supplication,
petition, intercession, thanksgiving, glorification, etc., Phil 4:6; 1 Tim 2:1.
Phil 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
God.”
1 Tim 2:1, “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and
prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2for
kings and all who are in authority,…”
The believer who prays only to ask
for things is missing out on blessings that come with other types of prayers
like intercessions and giving of thanks. Intercession for others can bring
victory to our own lives too, Job 42:10.
Job 42:10 (KJV), “And the LORD turned the captivity of Job,
when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had
before.”
3. Pray in the Spirit. The
Biblical formula is that we pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the
Spirit. Rom 8:26-27, tells us that
only in the power of the Spirit can we pray in the will of God. Otherwise, our
praying could be selfish and out of the will of God.
In the OT tabernacle, there was a
small golden altar standing before the veil, and here the priest burned the
incense that was a fragrant aroma to our Lord, Ex 30:1-10, 34-37. The incense had to be mixed according to God’s
plan and could not be counterfeited by man. It had to be a right thing done in
a right way. The fire on the altar was a picture of the Holy Spirit, for it is
He who takes our prayers and “ignites” them in the will of God. Therefore, the
burning incense is a picture of our prayers in the Holy Spirit that are a
pleasing aroma to the Lord, Psa 141:2;
Prov 15:8; Luke 11:1-13; Rev 5:8; 8:3-4.
Psa 141:2, “May my prayer be counted as incense before You;
The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.”
Prov 15:8, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination
to the LORD, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.”
Rev 5:8, “When He had taken the book, the four living
creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one
holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the
saints.”
It is possible to pray fervently
in the flesh and never get through to God. It is also possible to pray quietly
in the Spirit and see God’s hand do great things.
4. Pray with your eyes open.
In vs. 18, we are to “be on the
alert,” in our prayer life. In fact, the Lord used the phrase “watch and pray”
several times, as do the writers of the Bible. When Nehemiah was repairing the
walls of Jerusalem, and the enemy was trying to stop the work, Nehemiah
defeated the enemy by watching and praying, Neh 4:9.
Neh 4:9, “But we prayed to our God, and because of
them we set up a guard against them day and night.”
“Watching and praying,” are the
secret of victory over the world, Mark
13:33, the flesh, Mark 14:38,
and the devil, Eph 6:18. On the
other side, we are cautioned as Peter went to sleep when he should have been
praying, and the result was victory for Satan, Mark 14:29-31, 67-72. God expects us to use our God-given senses,
led by the Spirit, so that we detect Satan when he is beginning to work.
5. Keep on praying. The
word perseverance simply means, “to stick to it and not quit.” The early
believers prayed this way, Acts 1:14;
2:42; 6:4; and we too should pray this way, Rom 12:12.
Rom 12:12, “Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation,
devoted to prayer.”
Perseverance in prayer does not
mean we are trying to “twist God’s arm,” but rather that we are deeply
concerned and burdened and cannot rest until we get God’s answer. And remember,
as Robert Law put it, “Prayer is not
getting man’s will done in heaven; it is getting God’s will done on earth,”
(Tests of Life, [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1968]).
Most of us quit praying just
before God is about to give the victory. Not everybody is so constituted that
he can sincerely spend a whole night in prayer, but all of us can persevere in
prayer far more than we do. As we noted above, the early church prayed without
ceasing when Peter was in prison and, at the last moment, God gave them their
answer, Acts 12:1-19. Keep on
praying until the Spirit stops you or the Father answers you. Just about the
time you feel like quitting, God will give the answer.
6. Pray for all the saints.
The Lord’s template for prayer begins with “Our Father,” not “My Father.”
Therefore, we are to pray as part of a great family that is also talking to
God, and we ought to pray for the other members of the family. Even Paul asked
for the prayer support of the Church, and he had been to the third heaven and
back. If Paul needed the prayers of the saints, how much more do you and I need
them! If your prayers help another believer defeat Satan, then that victory
will help you too. Note that Paul did not ask them to pray for his comfort or
safety, but for the effectiveness of his witness and ministry.
7. Ask others to pray for you.
Do not be a selfish, standalone Christian. You have a very, very large church
family. Think of the power that your prayers have and then multiple that power
times all of the other believers who could be praying for you. As a Christian,
we are not to be self-centered, egotistical, shy, or fearful. If you are afraid
to let others know what you need them to prayer for on your behalf, then
arrogance has overwhelmed your soul. Paul’s request for confidence and boldness
in proclaiming the mystery gospel tells us a little something about him. If you
recall, in his prior life as Saul, he was always behind the scenes giving
encouragement or commands to persecute the church, cf. Acts 7:58; 8:1. But now as an ambassador for Christ, he is in the
front and center stage. He was most likely a little awkward verbally.
Therefore, he requested the prayers of the Church to throw off that awkwardness
by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that he could proclaim the gospel with
boldness and confidence “as he ought to.” Cf. 2 Cor 10:1. Therefore, just as Paul threw off his inhibitions and
asked for help, so too should we, “as we ought to.”
Remember Mat 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.”
Does this count?
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