Warrior of The Word - Waging War

 

2 Corinthians 10:3

For though we live in the flesh, 

we do not wage war according to the flesh.

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in The Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Ephesians 6:12

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

    We wage war with our prayers and with our worship to The Living God, Who is The Creator of All Things, Who is The Father of The Only Begotten Son; Who is our heavenly Father, Whom we can approach freely and frequently through The Son Jesus Christ.

    We wage war on our knees, with our tears and our hearts. But we do not wage war alone. When we begin to pray earnestly, God hears the first urgent breath before the words are ever spoken, if there are words to speak.

    We wage war together, when we pray with each other and for each other. Even if we do not know one another in this life, in Christ we are known, for we are His body. From the cellular structure inside to the outer appearance, we are the body of Christ, and we all need prayer to continue the work which God has given to each one of us. 

    We wage war when we speak with the authority which Christ has within us, when we declare triumph over injury, over sickness, over death. We pray that The Lord God bind our winds, heal our diseases and raise our dead to the advancement of His kingdom and for His glory, honor and praise. 

    We wage war when we pray for those who are dying without first believing and knowing Him. We pray for our missionaries who are willing to go to foreign nations to share the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ; even sharing with those who hate them for speaking The Name of Jesus. 

    We wage war when we pray for our church leaders. We pray for them to be Holy Spirit filled men and women of God. We pray for them to lead faithful and faith-filled lives that they would continue to lead God's churches in the way He would have them to lead. Our churches do not need to be bigger: they need to be fuller, so full that they spill into the streets, the byways, the highways and the alleys. 

    We wage war against spiritual darkness. We pray against witchcraft. We pray against star-sun-moon worship. We pray against tarot. We pray against fortune telling, psychics and the all-seeing eye. We pray against vengeance and bitterness. We pray against lust on every level. We pray against prideful hearts. Whomever we are praying for specifically, we pray against whatever is taking them away from knowing and believing and living The Lord Jesus Christ.

    We pray against anything that is not of God and The Lord Jesus Christ with the full knowledge that we are entering the arena of darkness with a quiver full of Holy Spirit power (arrows) and Word of God knowledge (bow). 

    We do not wage war lightly, for war of any kind is fraught with danger. One little setback could become a retreat. But we will not retreat. We will pray. 

    Let us pray even now for The Spirit of The Living God to have His way in us and in the people we are praying for. 

Prayer Cards - Unceasingly For Spiritual Growth

 

Colossians 1:9

For this cause, we also, since the day we heard it,

do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you

might be filled with the knowledge of His will

in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

    In the beginning of this book Paul is writing to the young church in Colosse, which is being built by Epaphras, commending them for the good report he has received of them. The 'we' refers to Timothy, who traveled and ministered with Paul while he was in Roman custody. 

    Though Paul had never met the saints in Colosse, their reputation as faithful servants of Christ, reached his ears. Even as he writes to encourage them in their fruitfulness, he also tells them how he and Timothy are praying for them:

    *Unceasingly

    *Filled with the knowledge of His will

        >In all wisdom 

        >Spiritual understanding

    Are we praying for each other in this way?  Unceasingly. Always. Without end.  Watchful. Alert to danger.

    Are we encouraging saints we have never met, and may never meet, to grow in wisdom and spiritual understanding? 

    Paul praises them for their obvious belief in God and the evidence of said belief in God: faith, hope and love, which are the hallmarks of any born-again Christian. For their faith in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives and souls. 

    For their abounding love to all saints, not just the ones they know. For the love they show to the people around them, who are not saints, yet are being shown the true love of Christ by the Colosse church. [John 13:34 {agape}]. It is a mark of the grace of God that we are able to love the people around us, even if they are not Christians. For God loved the world, even when the world did not love Him back. [John 3:16-18] 

    For the hope they profess to others regarding the gospel of salvation. [Titus 2:3]. It is our faith in Christ, and our love for saints everywhere, that keeps our focus on our hope of heaven.  

    And then, he lets them know that he and Timothy are praying for them. Such encouragement! Someone they knew of but did not know personally was praying for them unceasingly! That's empowering to the soul of the saint. 

    But then he writes that he is praying that they would become more fruitful. First, that they would be filled with the knowledge of God's will. Even now every saint must first be filled with the knowledge of God's will so that we can obey God's will. The Word of God never changes, but the transforming power of God's Spirit will change us if we let Him, if we know God's will for us. [2 Peter 3:18].

    Secondly, Paul and Timothy are praying that this church would be filled with spiritual wisdom and spiritual understanding. This is vital to a saint's spiritual growth. It is not enough to know The Word, for many false prophets can quote Scripture but they speak it to their advantage, not to the increase of the kingdom of God. There are Biblical scholars who claim to know 'secrets' hidden The Word that cannot be revealed to those who do not believe as they believe. 

    Spiritual wisdom and spiritual understanding are not spirituality; spirituality has nothing to do with God or Christ Jesus or The Holy Spirit. Spirituality is evil and against God and His Administration. Spiritual wisdom and understanding are sought after by God's saints to increase God's kingdom. 

    Spiritual wisdom is discernment: having a God-given knowledge about who is telling the Truth and who is not; who is a faithful servant of Christ and who is not; what is Truth and what is not. [Proverbs 4:5-7; 2:10-11; Ephesians 1:17] 

    Spiritual understanding is a working knowledge of The Word of God. [Colossians 2:2-3]. It is a basic building block of a Christian's faith. We can memorize Scripture but unless we put what we are learning into action, it is just a block of information we keep sequestered in our memory bank. 

    We should desire, as Paul did, for all Christians, all saints, everywhere to be filled with Spirit-filled knowledge, Spirit-filled wisdom and Spirit-filled understanding. Let us pray for that to be fulfilled in us and in each other, unceasingly. 

LET US PRAY - Steven Curtis Chapman