When it comes to prayer and the calling upon the church, it is important to know there are various forms of prayer. It is interesting to note that at the conclusion of Paul’s warlike passage in Ephesians 6, the image of the soldier depicts one fully armed for battle and then the climax of the narrative reads in vs. 18, “with all prayer…praying.”
It was clear in Paul’s theology of prayer that there is a warlike posture that followers of Jesus are called to assume at times when it comes to prayer and intercession. Even though dynamics like communion, fellowship, refreshing, soaking, etc., at times do characterize our prayer lives, the fact is that the call to prayer is also a call to battle during certain seasons of our lives.
Warlike praying is further depicted by Paul in Colossians 4:12 (NIV) when he declared that “Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends his greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” His description of the prayer life of Epaphras was one of aggressive intercession for the Colossian church.
A life of warring prayer is one that continually engages God for divine assistance in the war against Satan, sin and self. This is the prolonged, intense type of prevailing prayer that is focused on defeating and routing the enemy so that God’s will may be done and so that His kingdom is forcefully advanced on the earth (ref. Eph. 6:12 & 2 Cor. 10:3-4).
There is nothing the enemy and his cohorts fear more than people who give themselves to faithful prayer. He, in fact, does not know how to handle or cope with prayer so he specializes in keeping us from prayer or getting us to forfeit in prayer before we see prayer’s answers revealed. Therefore, the willingness to aggressively battle in prayer is so important.
We need to see our prayer lives as a militant force that has the potential and power of defeating Satan, decimating his works and driving him out of places and lives he claims for his own.
As prayer warriors, we stand between the authority and power of heaven and the darkness and power of hell, between the Lamb on the throne and Satan. Jesus has delegated His authority to the prayer warrior. He has given us the right to use His name and plead His blood, and He has armed and equipped us for spiritual conquest. The prayer warrior is to enforce the victory of Calvary on the battlefield of earth!
Join me on Maintain the Flame this week as I share about the necessity of battling in prayer. The willingness of God’s people to engage His heart in intercession often becomes a war zone, as eternal elements become more and more real. As you listen this week, be prepared to be stirred deeply with a fresh and deep hunger to change eternity through prayer! {eoa}
Keith Collins is the founder of Generation Impact Ministries and Impact Global Fellowship. He is actively involved in itinerant ministry, teaching and writing. In recent years, Keith served as the president of the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry and as the director of FIRE School of Ministry, which were both born out of the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida. His recent book, Samuels Arising: Waking Up to God’s Prophetic Call, is now available on Amazon and his podcast, Maintain the Flame, can be heard on iTunes and at cpnshows.com. You can contact Keith via his websites at keith-collins.org or impactgf.org.
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