Warfare Prayer

Remember that God allows trails and tribulations to come to His children as a part of His refinement process. Even those who are righteous go through this. Remember Job? I mean he really went through it. Read about his story if you are not familiar with it. Right before the book of Psalms you get Job's story. Job said this in Job 23:10, "But God knows the way that I take, and when He has tested me, I will come out like gold." Even Job, who was already starting off with a lot of righteousness had to get further refinement.

I guess we could ask the question, "God, do I ever arrive on this earth? Do I ever get to the place where I don't have to do that anymore?" What do you think? Whenever you become perfect, maybe. God is going to continue to refine you. Sometimes He will let things come through because He has a higher purpose in mind.

Let's look at Jesus for example. It seems like in the latter days that Jesus' armor was falling down, wasn't it? I mean if you were to look at it through the natural, or even to make a judgment upon that, it may seem like that. They took Him to the cross and they killed Him. But in reality, God had a higher purpose in mind. It wasn't because Jesus had deficient armor. He had the strongest armor that anybody had. But because God had a higher purpose in mind, things happened to Him for our benefit and for our blessing.

You say, "OK, well we can handle that with Jesus, because He is the Savior of the world. And somebody had to die for that." Well then what about Paul the apostle, the guy who wrote the book of Ephesians on the armor of God? Go to II Corinthians 11:23-33 and read it at another time. You will find the entire story of what the apostle Paul went through. Scourging, beatings, they took him outside of the town, stoned him and left him for dead. He got up, went back in, recovered. He was ship- wrecked, he was starving, he was in jail. Eventually, they cut his head off. Now in the natural what do we say? What happened to that boy's armor? It seemed to be a little deficient. What happened to it? In reality, his armor was very well intact, but there was a higher purpose in mind.

When you look at all of the disciples, only one of them died of old age. That was John -- and he died in exile. Why? Was their armor deficient? No, God had a higher purpose in mind.

We know that in the last days, when we look at the book of Revelation, we see what will happen. Many believers will be persecuted, they will be tried, they will go through tribulations. We know that many will be killed for the faith. And it is not because their armor is deficient, it is because there is a higher purpose in mind. God is getting us ready for eternity. He is getting us in shape to spend eternity with Him. Whatever it takes to get you in shape, that is what He is going to do.

What do we do? We always focus upon this life. We have this warped view of God that He is supposed to be this Santa Claus, or this co-dependant father who doesn't let anything bad ever happen to us. Then we are upset when bad things happen, and we don't understand.

It could be that those things get through because of some of the things that we mentioned. You may be out of the will of God. It may be God disciplining you, chastening you. Maybe there is an area of your life not submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. But if you have gone through the list and nothing seems to fit, it may be that God is simply allowing something to build your faith, to strengthen you and to refine your character. Because there are going to be times when you have gone through the checklist with God and nothing seems to fit. And God says, "Hang in there with me. There is a higher purpose." Of course then we want to know what it is. But God doesn't always tell us. Some things we will never know until we get to the other side and we ask Him in person. "God, why did I have to go through that?" And God will tell you and then it will make sense. Or maybe after a few years, you will look back and say, OK, now I see. Now I know why I had to go through that.

God has given you His armor. And I would say that there are a lot of things that this devil will try to do to you, that you just don't have to take. You need to put the armor on. If something gets through, you will want to be able to search that thing out and know why it got there, as much as you can. If it is your fault, correct it. If God has permitted it, let Him. But there is a lot that the enemy would try to do that we do not have to take. And sometimes if something got through, and it is not God building your faith, it is not your fault, then you need to go after the enemy. He is attacking you unjustly.

The first thing we have to do is examine our hearts before God and to see if there are areas of our lives that we have to turn over to God. Are there holes in our armor, areas of sin/rebellion/unholiness? Are we submitted to His Lordship in every area of our lives? We need to submit our minds and hearts to God and ask Him to show us about the situations we are in. Ask Him to give you revelation as to why things may have to come. Get sorted out with God and assure you are in His will. Lets stay in an attitude of prayer as we move on. A lot of you are just as beat up as you can be. I want to say to you, there are a lot of things that you don't have to take from the enemy. Now if you have been beat up, let's talk to God and ask Him why.

Did you put on your armor? You say, "Oh, well I forgot." God's grace can still cover you even when you do forget, but consciously as much as possible, put it on. If you walk it out, you have it. Let's declare it. Put it on.

Are you walking in the will of God? Are there areas of your life that are not surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus? Just let the Spirit speak to you. He wants you to walk out of here today as covered as possible. Ask Him.

Is it a consequence of previous actions? Is it a consequence of having sown to the flesh? Is that why it is coming my way? (By the way, as a child of God, you don't have to take a lot of consequences. As much as possible, ask the Lord to protect you from them. Some, you can't, and some you can.) Ask Him now.

Is God correcting you? Is He spanking you? If He is, it is because He loves you and He wants to bring you into righteous living.

If you have gone through the questions, and your heart doesn't condemn you and the Spirit of God hasn't been speaking to you, and so far the answer in your spirit has been none of the above, Is God testing your faith? Is God refining you? Is He purifying you? Let it have its work in you. Bring correction, alignment and refinement to the areas that God is dealing with.

And Lord Jesus, we want your armor to stay on us today. Lord, you know the gaps, the holes that are there. You know the things that the enemy has attacked us with and you know why they are there. I pray that revelation will come Lord. That our armor can be shored up. That our defenses will be intact and that we will be protected.

Father, we just stand against every scheme of the enemy. I pray for our lives, Lord ,that you will fulfill the purposes that you have called us to in. I pray for the families, Lord, that are represented here. I pray that you will guard them, that you will protect them, that the enemy cannot touch them. That he will not penetrate them. I pray for the marriages that are represented here. I pray for the wounded that are hurting and broken and bleeding all over the place. I pray that You will heal them, give hope to them.

Father, I pray for the cities. As we pray for this city and the other cities around us, that You will guard us and protect us as we march out of this place as soldiers in Your army to take the cities for Your Kingdom.

Show us Lord, how we can stay firm and not give up. To ward off all the schemes of the enemy. That you can reveal the things of darkness. That You will expose every tactic and every strategy that is against us and against our families, against your church. Lord, we know that you can show everything up, and take it out. Now Lord, make us strong, strong soldiers of You. We thank you for this in your name we pray.