This past week I was teaching counseling at the Bible college in England. I always finish out my notes encouraging students to learn how to use the weapons of our warfare that are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:4) Let's look at these together.
Our first great weapon is prayer. Sometimes we treat prayer as an afterthought, but prayer is worship, work, and warfare. Without being energized by prayer, we are working from our own strength, and when we face strongholds and awful situations in life, we are not prepared.
One of the best books I ever read on prayer is Life's Limitless Reach by Jack Taylor. He breaks prayer down into three forms. First, we use praise and thanksgiving to enhance our worship, intercession and petition in our work toward man, and the word of faith - rehearsing truth and resistance in prayer - toward the enemy.
Knowing God's Holy Spirit is right beside us when we pray to interpret and direct our prayers, as we read in Romans 8:26, 27, we can avoid praying from our fear of problems and from the ground of ourselves.
When we pray from the ground of the problem as we see it, we will be problem conscious, and that yields mourning, despair, and worry. If we pray from the ground of ourselves, we will be self-conscious, which causes us morbid introspection and loss of hope. But if we pray from the foundation of who God is and what He has done, we will be God-conscious and that brings us hope, gladness, purpose, and victory.
Prayer is a vital tool. The next tool we discussed was the wonderful Word of God. Matthew Henry writes - "To the Christian armed for defense in battle, the apostle recommends only one weapon of attack; but it enough, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph 6:17). It subdues and mortifies evil desires and blasphemous thoughts as they rise within; and answers unbelief and error as they assault from without. A single text, well understood and rightly applied, at once destroys a temptation or an objection and subdues the most formidable adversary."
The word of God was Jesus' weapon against the enemy's temptation - surely, it is one we need to effectively wield as well.
The third weapon is the Name of Jesus. Satan must flee in the presence of Christ. Proverbs 18:10 says, The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe." I imagine it as locking myself away in a tower, and over the door, as I slam it shut, is the Name of the Lord. Satan cannot enter!
Revelation 12:11 gives us three more powerful weapons. It reads - "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." To overcome - that's what we want, isn't it? To overcome those feelings, to overcome the enemy? Well, this verse gives us three more weapons for that purpose.
First is the blood of Christ. There is power in the blood. Remember the Passover night? Remember the use of blood through the tabernacle? Remember the blood shed for you on Calvary that makes you a child of God? That blood shed in perfect obedience to the Father is a power against which Satan cannot stand. He is the direct opposite of obedience. So, plea the blood for protection, for the tearing down of strongholds, and present your requests to the Father based on the Blood of Christ. You are covered and complete in Christ, loved with an everlasting love. You are His, and He is yours through the Blood of Christ - what a wonderful place to stand!
The word of our testimony is another weapon we fail to recognize. It simply means speak about the Lord. Share what He has done in your life with others. Brag on God. The more you talk of HIm, the more you will recognize Him at work around you. So, don't be afraid to praise Him out loud.
And, finally, the idea of sacrifice - love not your life. The Apostle Paul counted nothing in life do dear as his position in Christ. Phil 2:7 That is the opposite of what we hear today. We spend so much of our Christian life listening about God's love for us, His acceptance of us, how we need to love ourselves, and that we are worthy and beautiful in His sight. Which we are. But that gets our focus too much on ourselves. Love not your life. Be willing to sacrifice and give of yourself to others. There is much to be said for our sheer determination to trust God and give ourselves wholly to Him even when we do not understand, even when it all looks bleak, even when it all goes wrong. Our undying faith in His ability and our willingness to follow unto death are a source of power. Unwavering faith is a powerful weapon.
So there you have it in a condensed form. Five powerful weapons for the use of Christians. Prayer, God's Word, the name of Jesus, the blood of Christ, the word of our testimony, and unwavering faith.
Strap them on each day and see what God can do with your battles!
No comments:
Post a Comment