Spiritual Warfare

I've been in prayer a lot the last few days.  When things seem hard, I wonder what type of spiritual warfare I should be fighting.  Offenses and woundings will come.  We've had bucket-loads of pain in our lives.  When we thought things might go better, trials seem to come at us from another direction.  So, I prayed, Lord, what would make a difference? Here is the scripture the Lord led me to read;

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;… " (Phil 1:9-10)

People who hurt us need to be healed and brought to the love of God. I have varying degrees of energy in my prayers for them. Some people are easy to pray for because I love them. Love is necessary for the “real knowledge and discernment” to inform my prayers.  For others, my prayers are tepid because of past offences.  Ineffective prayers lack a sincere partnership with God. Eventually, it becomes obvious that our prayers may go nowhere near God’s throne unless we love the person or circumstances we pray for. If our relationship with God is suffering because we do not want to love our enemy, then how do we pray and expect Him to answer?

In Christ we have a gift called "grace" whereby we might overcome our pain, anger, and bitterness . . . and be healed.  But if we want to dwell on bitterness, we will turn cold towards those who have caused us the pain, and we eventually will have a "hard heart" towards them.  And, this is the strategy of satan; to make us ineffective in prayer and in action by causing our hearts to not care about the people who have hurt us . . . people whom we will one day will need to pray earnestly for in their hour of need.

Last night I saw a glimpse of strategy for the kind of prayer that wins spiritual wars.  It's not our strategy; there is God's, and satan's.  If I forgive the one who hurt me and love him, not only am I an effective person to be praying for him in his time of need, but my prayers have the fragrance of Christ on them. 

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;” (2 Cor 2:14-15).

God’s strategy is realized when we are willing to pray and forgive, which causes us to have victory against satan. If we want to see the power of heaven unleashed onto earth, we need to pray with the incense, or fragrance of Christ’s nature on our lives.

“The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God's people, went up before God from the angel's hand.” (Rev 8:4)

 If I am offended or angry at a brother and do not resolve those negative emotions, I become ineffective in praying for him, even if that's what God has appointed me to do.  And because of anger and bitterness, I lose my spiritual battle.

The scripture in Philippians 1:9-10 (see above) points out the value of Love.  Love allows us to know how to approve God's will, which is very important in prayer.  When our actions come from love we will be sincere, and blameless.  Love has that much power. And when we know and agree with, or approve God’s will and pray according to it, we will win spiritual battles. The love causes the knowing, and the knowledge, when prayed, brings the victory.

I think it is a sign that, when satan attacks us, God is partnering with us on an awesome victory wrought through prayer and blessing. We will determine which way that battle goes by deciding to love, or to be angry and bitter.  Let us press into God today for the grace that will enable us to love during difficult times, and for knowledge of His will so that we will win our spiritual warfare.  Amen.