Prayer is Power

II Corinthians 10:1–8

“By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away! I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.”

The battles are in the spiritual realm ultimately, although the war is over and Christ had won, the Adversary is still trying to get what he can as he retreats in defeat, prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (I Peter 5:8); he isn’t going to win, and despite looking like it in the battles for the world, he is still a sore loser, and let us not let him think he has a foothold in our lives (Eph 4:27), let us continue to resist him by humbly drawing near to God and obeying Christ, like the Apostle James wrote: “But He gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will draw near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the LORD, and He will lift you up (Jam 4:6–9, also I Peter 5:6).” Let us remind ourselves and each other again of putting on the full armour of God, “so that you can make your stand against the devil's schemes, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms [also, vv. 4–5] Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of (1) truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of (2) righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the (3) readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the (4) shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of (5) salvation and (6) the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And (7) pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints (Eph 6:11–18. There is so much in these in their very practical application, and I am glad we all hold the (6) sword of the Spirit daily by reading and studying God’s Word, and yet, (7) prayer is ready and powerful. English Catholic writer GK Chesterton wrote: “You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert & the opera, and grace before the play & pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.” May our days be rich in communication with the LORD. I like today’s Living Life prayer, may we all thank God and constantly ask for His power over every turn and situation we face. “Lord, thank You for giving me all the weapons I need to destroy the enemy’s strongholds and defeat sin in my life. Help me to take hold of the authority You have given to me and preach the Gospel with boldness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”