Fighting in prayer (Part 7)
Verse of the Day: Ephesians 6: 12 " For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places"
To conclude the thought of the sixth part, I showed you that the devil attacks our flesh to make us fall into sin and according to Jesus, the solution to overcome the temptation of the flesh is to WATCH and PRAY (Matthew 26: 41). It is not only praying but we must also ensure praying without cease. I believe that all Christians pray but very few watch. In the original Greek verse, the word "watch" is translated from the Greek "gregoreo" which means "to be vigilant". Praying is a good thing but we must also be vigilant because our enemy is cunning. I saw men of God that the Lord has raised but ended up to easily fall into the trap of the devil for lack of vigilance. We cannot be vigilant as long as we do not know the strategies of the enemy. There are many of them but I would like to share two of the most used to bring down the servants of God and many Christians.
The first strategy of Satan is to convince Christians that he cannot hurt them because of the victory of Jesus on the cross. Satan will not come with horns but he will come in a form of teachings to convince Christians to ignore him. Yes, Satan wants us to underestimate him and to ignore his tricks. When you underestimate thieves and you believe they cannot robe you, you will not lock the door before sleeping. This is exactly what is happening in the Church today; many Christians underestimate the devil and his wiles are unaware, that is why they easily fall into the trap. The devil is not offended when you underestimated him but he is rather happy because in underestimating and ignoring him, you give him time to build his plan against you. This is why Paul asked the Corinthians not to let Satan the advantage over them and not to ignore his wiles (2 Cor 2: 11). Writing to the Ephesians, the same Paul reminds them that they must fight against principalities, against the rulers, against spiritual hots of wickedness in the heavenly places and therefore they should put on the whole armor of God so that they may be able to withstand in the evil day and stand after having faced all (Eph 6: 12-13).
I have heard many sermons on the armor of God to resist the devil but almost all speak of six weapons mentioned in Ephesians 6: 12-17 (the belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet and sword ) but many forget the seventh weapon mentioned in the next verse where he says: " Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints"(Eph 6: 18)
Constant prayer is the seventh and most powerful weapon of God that we need to resist the wiles of the devil. So, do not limit yourself on the seventeenth verse but you should also consider the eighteenth (Ephesians 6: 18).
To be continued in the eighth part
Chris Ndikumana
