Weapons of Our Warfare - Prayer

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. DANIEL 6:10

But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. ACTS 6:4


PRAYER

In searching for the definition of prayer, I found many but not one specific one that actually defines what prayer is in its entirety. So I am going to attempt to define the word using parts of a few definitions that stood out. Here goes – prayer: A dialogue between God and man; a spiritual communion with God as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession; prayer in the Judeo-Christian tradition is often a struggle between two wills—between two covenant partners. And though the two partners are not equal, the human agent is not precluded from the complaining, questioning, and passionate vehemence that characterize true dialogues; to petition God.

We are talking about the weapons of our warfare, so how is prayer a weapon in our arsenal? In prayer we put on our armor, through prayer we intercede for our fellow saints, by prayer we confess unto God our sins and receive forgiveness. Through prayer we maintain a constant communication with our Father. A direct link so to speak. Many old school Christians like to say that the battle is fought on our knees, because our battle is not with flesh and blood and therefore we must pray for God’s covering, we must pray for God’s direction and we must pray for God’s protection and intervention.

In Matthew chapter 6, verses 9-13, Jesus gives us a model for prayer, establishing that prayer is part of a believer’s walk with God. It is what develops the relationship between you and God. Jesus tells us in this prayer that we should pray for God’s will in our lives, we should pray for our provision and we should pray for the forgiveness of our sins and shortcomings. Notice though that in verse 13 he says “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.” If Jesus is telling us to pray for deliverance from temptation and the evil one then He is telling us to pray for God’s protection and intervention. Notice also in Daniel 6:10, prior to this verse the jealous government officials who worked with him and under him were trying to find a way to set Daniel up and have him removed from his position. I dare to say that most of them if not all of them wanted him dead. They soon realized that the only way to get to him was through his beliefs. They knew that he did not worship the gods of Babylon and that he worshiped his God alone. So they set out to trap him in this way by going to the king and having him write a decree that prohibited the worship of any gods that were not the Babylonian gods. They knew that Daniel would not bow down to their idols and that he would not stop worshipping the One, True God of Israel. The king consented unaware of their plot and Daniel knowing the decree that was written, went to his room and knelt three times facing Jerusalem with his windows open and prayed to God, giving Him thanks and glory.

Prayer is a weapon! The enemy does not want you to pray when under attack or before being attacked. If he can distract you from prayer, then you will be unaware of his pending attack on you. When we pray God speaks to us! God is not deaf and He is not mute! He is the same yesterday, today, and always, and if He spoke to the prophets of old yesterday what makes you think He will not speak to us today?!! God warns us, and when we seek Him in prayer, He gives us the strategies to defeat the enemy. Most times it is on our knees that we fight the battle because God is doing the rest and giving us the victory.

The 1st century church delegated leaders to tend to the needs of the church while the apostles dedicated themselves to prayer and the ministering of the Word. They understood that they had to stay in prayer when ministering the Word because they were going to come up against opposition and they needed God’s covering. Prayer keeps you “plugged in” as I like to say, with God so that you are sensitive to His voice and the leading of the Holy Spirit. It keeps you connected to your ONLY resource. There is much more to be said about prayer but I just wanted to bring a portion on how it relates to spiritual warfare; God has given us access to come boldly before the throne of grace through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Let us pray without ceasing in all manner of supplication with thanksgiving unto God. The next inspiration will be on the weapon called FAITH. God bless you.