"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." Ephesians 6:12
Early in my ministry,God impressed upon me that intercession is essentially defensive prayer. Yet He also seemed to say to me, "My people are beginning to move out on the offensive." Therefore, I want to share in this article about offensive prayer - prayer as a weapon of attack.
In the above quote from Ephesians, Paul is talking about a wrestling match. To me, this is significant because he is taking his metaphor from the Olympic Games, where the most severe, total test of strength, power, endurance and skill was the wrestling match. In a wrestling match, it is one man totally pitted against another. It is this figure of total involvement which Paul uses for spiritual conflict, telling us that it involves our whole being. Paul says that the supreme target of our Christian warfare is this kingdom of darkness under the control of Satan.
Looking in the Old Testament, we find (in Daniel) that over each major empire was a satanic prince directly responsible to see that Satan's purposes were carried out in that empire. I believe this is true of the world today. Every major nation and empire has a particular satanic prince set over it to ensure that satan's purposes are carried out and God's purposes are frustrated. Ultimately, the destiny of a nation is determined by who wins this heavenly warfare.
We are dealing with a government of evil that seeks to control the world with spiritual power for Satan's purposes. The ultimate challenge of the Church is to defeat that government. I believe this responsibility rests on us, the Church, because we alone have the spiritual weapons to do the job. It is spiritual warfare - it must be won with spiritual weapons. Carnal weapons cannot do it. Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh." We are at war, but it is not in the carnal, fleshly, material realm. "Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."
Can you see that the warfare is spiritual, and the objectives we have to capture are in men's minds? Our warfare is to liberate the minds of men from the control of Satan and bring them under the control of Christ. To do that, we have to pull down Satan's strongholds, which are built up in people's minds.
What are our spiritual weapons? There are three main spiritual weapons. Number one is the name of Jesus Christ. Number two is the blood of Jesus. Number three is the Word of God. These are all spiritual weapons. Consequently, they have to be launched by spiritual artillery. What is the launching mechanism or channel for all spiritual weapons? The mouth - and there are four main ways of launching our weapons through our mouths. Number one is prayer. Number two is praise. Number three is preaching. Number four is testimony.
So we see that there is a battle for men's minds. The weapons are spiritual. The artillery through which they are launched is our mouths. The victory will go to the side that makes the best use of its mouth. I truly believe that if the children of God, filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, would fill the atmosphere with the spiritual weapons God has given us, Satan's kingdom would be bound, silenced,and rendered ineffective!
I believe that in every area of the earth, it is within the pwoer of God's people to win victory for their particular territory, and Christians in every area are responsible before God for their area. I believe the destiny of this nation and other nations will be determined by the way Christians use the spiritual weapons which God has put at our disposal.
(This article is an adaptation of an article by Derek Prince originally published in the July/August 1975 issue of the Intercessors For America Newsletter, www.IFAPray.org)
Monday, September 30, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
Several Articles of Interest
Egyptian Christians Killed for Not Paying "Jizya" Tax
Muslims in southern Egypt killed two Christian men for failing to pay them protection money, CBN News reports. Muslims in the area are demanding that Christians pay them "jizya," a kind of tax that Islamic law requires religious minorities to pay Muslims, but the tax is so high many Christians simply can't afford it. Voice of the Martyrs reported that a Muslim man demanded a Christian in a village in Assiut pay him nearly $1,500. The Christian sought help from local police but to no avail; when he failed to come up with the money, several Muslims went to his home and shot him and his cousin to death.
Judge's Ruling Makes North Dakota First to Ban Abortion Based on Down Syndrome
Earlier this year, Governor Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota signed legislation that banned abortions because of gender selection and genetic defects, such as Down syndrome. The state's lone abortion provider, Red River Women's Clinic (RRWC), immediately filed suit to stop these measures, as well as another provision that banned abortion as soon as a heartbeat could be detected.
However, U. S.District Judge Daniel Hovland dismissed part of the suit this week at the request of RRWC, which claimed it never performed abortions for genetic or gender reasons. The dismissal means those two provisions will go into effect in the state.
American United for Life President Charmaine Yhoest told LifeNews.com the importance of this ruling: "A civil society does not discriminate against people - born and unborn - for their sex or for disability. We should be celebrating diversity, not destroying it," she said. "Women in particular have been targeted for death in the womb, and we've also seen dramatic abortion rates for children with disabilities which put them at risk for extinction."
While RRWC claims they never perform abortions for such reasons, they also offered no proof that this was the case, nor did they explain why they initially challenged laws that have no bearing on their practice. In fact, LifeNews.com claims that as many as 90% of parents choose to have an abortion when doctors detect a genetic "defect" before birth. In other words, just because RRWC may claim the abortion was simply a "personal decision," they don't have to find out (or document) the reason for it.
Christian Widow in India Beaten for Refusing to "Reconvert" to Hinduism
NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) - When Laxmi Sovi, a Christian widow in India's Chhattisgarh state, heard her door opening one morning last month, she could not have guessed that by the next day she would be hospitalized and her home demolished. Three Hindu extremists identified only as Veeru, Chaytu and Mangru barged into Sovi's house in Kakadi Beda village, Kondagoan, at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 24 and demanded that she and her children convert back to Hinduism, she told Morning Star News. In spite of threats, she declined. The three men left.
That night at about 11 p.m., the same Hindu nationalists forced their way into her house. "They asked me why I converted to Christianity and left all the Hindu idols, and they also told me that I should reconvert to Hinduism or else be killed," Sovi said.
Sovi, who became a Christian four years ago, refused to renounce Christ. The Hindu extremists began beating her and her two children, threatening to rape her teenage daughter. The children managed to escape and hid in the surrounding jungle, but the men continued to slap, kick and punch Sovi as they insisted she leave Christ. She was found semi-conscious after the beating and the destruction of her home.
(Articles from ReligionToday@crosswalkmail.com)
Muslims in southern Egypt killed two Christian men for failing to pay them protection money, CBN News reports. Muslims in the area are demanding that Christians pay them "jizya," a kind of tax that Islamic law requires religious minorities to pay Muslims, but the tax is so high many Christians simply can't afford it. Voice of the Martyrs reported that a Muslim man demanded a Christian in a village in Assiut pay him nearly $1,500. The Christian sought help from local police but to no avail; when he failed to come up with the money, several Muslims went to his home and shot him and his cousin to death.
Judge's Ruling Makes North Dakota First to Ban Abortion Based on Down Syndrome
Earlier this year, Governor Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota signed legislation that banned abortions because of gender selection and genetic defects, such as Down syndrome. The state's lone abortion provider, Red River Women's Clinic (RRWC), immediately filed suit to stop these measures, as well as another provision that banned abortion as soon as a heartbeat could be detected.
However, U. S.District Judge Daniel Hovland dismissed part of the suit this week at the request of RRWC, which claimed it never performed abortions for genetic or gender reasons. The dismissal means those two provisions will go into effect in the state.
American United for Life President Charmaine Yhoest told LifeNews.com the importance of this ruling: "A civil society does not discriminate against people - born and unborn - for their sex or for disability. We should be celebrating diversity, not destroying it," she said. "Women in particular have been targeted for death in the womb, and we've also seen dramatic abortion rates for children with disabilities which put them at risk for extinction."
While RRWC claims they never perform abortions for such reasons, they also offered no proof that this was the case, nor did they explain why they initially challenged laws that have no bearing on their practice. In fact, LifeNews.com claims that as many as 90% of parents choose to have an abortion when doctors detect a genetic "defect" before birth. In other words, just because RRWC may claim the abortion was simply a "personal decision," they don't have to find out (or document) the reason for it.
Christian Widow in India Beaten for Refusing to "Reconvert" to Hinduism
NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) - When Laxmi Sovi, a Christian widow in India's Chhattisgarh state, heard her door opening one morning last month, she could not have guessed that by the next day she would be hospitalized and her home demolished. Three Hindu extremists identified only as Veeru, Chaytu and Mangru barged into Sovi's house in Kakadi Beda village, Kondagoan, at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 24 and demanded that she and her children convert back to Hinduism, she told Morning Star News. In spite of threats, she declined. The three men left.
That night at about 11 p.m., the same Hindu nationalists forced their way into her house. "They asked me why I converted to Christianity and left all the Hindu idols, and they also told me that I should reconvert to Hinduism or else be killed," Sovi said.
Sovi, who became a Christian four years ago, refused to renounce Christ. The Hindu extremists began beating her and her two children, threatening to rape her teenage daughter. The children managed to escape and hid in the surrounding jungle, but the men continued to slap, kick and punch Sovi as they insisted she leave Christ. She was found semi-conscious after the beating and the destruction of her home.
(Articles from ReligionToday@crosswalkmail.com)
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Muslim Mob Injures Chruch Leaders, Choir Members in Nigeria
ABUJA, Nigeria: - A Muslim mob with knives and iron rods injured several members of an Anglican church in Nasarawa state on Aug. 17 over a dispute about less than 1 cent in change, area Christians said.
Three pastors, four elders and choir members of the St. James Anglican Cathedral were wounded in Lafia, capital of Nasarawa in central Nigeria, as they met for study and worship preparation. They sustained cuts on their heads and other parts of their bodies when some 30 Muslims attacked with motorcycle chains and wooden cubs, along with the other weapons, area residents said.
An area member of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ in Lafia, Joshua Nuhu Kuju, told Morning Star News that a Muslim woman incited the Muslims to attack after she had a minor dispute over payment with a young Christian man who runs the church's water borehole.
"The Muslim woman sent her children to purchase water from the church's borehole, and then a misunderstanding over about 5 naira (less than 1 cent US$) occurred," he said. "The Muslim woman then went and invited some of her Muslim neighbors, who stormed the church and attacked the members of the church." The assailants also damaged Bibles and broke chairs, he said.
Three pastors, four elders and choir members of the St. James Anglican Cathedral were wounded in Lafia, capital of Nasarawa in central Nigeria, as they met for study and worship preparation. They sustained cuts on their heads and other parts of their bodies when some 30 Muslims attacked with motorcycle chains and wooden cubs, along with the other weapons, area residents said.
An area member of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ in Lafia, Joshua Nuhu Kuju, told Morning Star News that a Muslim woman incited the Muslims to attack after she had a minor dispute over payment with a young Christian man who runs the church's water borehole.
"The Muslim woman sent her children to purchase water from the church's borehole, and then a misunderstanding over about 5 naira (less than 1 cent US$) occurred," he said. "The Muslim woman then went and invited some of her Muslim neighbors, who stormed the church and attacked the members of the church." The assailants also damaged Bibles and broke chairs, he said.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Ask and It Shall Be Givern
The answer to prayer is the part of prayer which glorifies God. It is not the act or the attitude of praying which gives efficacy to prayer. It is not abject prostration of the body before God, the vehement or quiet utterance to God, the exquisite beauty and poetry of the diction of our prayers, which do the deed. It is not the marvelous array of argument and eloquence in praying which makes prayer effectual. Not one or all of these are the things which glorify God. It is the answer which brings glory to His name.
To seek no answer to prayer takes the desire, the aim, and the heart out of prayer. It makes praying a dead thing, fit only for dumb idols. It is the answer which brings praying into Bible regions, and makes it a desire realized, a pursuit, an interest, that clothes it with flesh and blood, and makes it a prayer, throbbing with all the true life of prayer, affluent with all the paternal relations of giving and receiving, of asking and answering.
The emphasis in the Scriptures is always given to the answer to prayer. All things from God are given in answer to prayer. God himself, His presence, His gifts and His grace, one and all, are secured by prayer. The medium by which God communicates with men is prayer. The most real thing in prayer, its very essential end, is the answer it secures. The mere repetition of words in prayer, the counting of beads, the multiplying mere words of prayer,as if there was virtue in the number of prayers to avail, is a vain delusion, and empty thing, a useless service. Prayer looks directly to securing an answer.
To God and to man, the answer to prayer is the all-important part of our praying. The answer to prayer, direct and unmistakable, is the evidence of God's being. It proves that God lives, that there is a God, an intelligent being, who is interested in His creatures, and who listens to them when they approach Him in prayer. There is no proof so clear and demonstrative that God exists than prayer and its answer. This was Elijah's plea: "Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God."
God holds all good in His own hands. That good comes to us through our Lord Jesus Christ because of His all-atoning merits, by asking it in His name. The sole command in which all the others of its class belong, is "Ask, seek, knock." And the one and sole promise is its counterpart, its necessary equivalent and results: "It shall be given - ye shall find - it shall be opened unto you."
Our Lord JesusChrist is most fully committed to the answer of prayer. "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." How well assured the answer to prayer is, when that answer is to glorify God the Father! And how eager Jesus Christ is to glorify His Father in heaven! So eager is He to answer prayer which always and everywhere brings glory to the Father, that no prayer offered in His name is denied or overlooked by Him. Says our Lord Jesus Christ again, giving fresh assurance to our faith, "If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it."
(by E.M. Bounds, A Confederate chaplain, prisoner of war, Methodist pastor, and author)
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Charles H. Spurgeon
"I have heard of one man who said that he did not like to prejudice his boy, so he would not say anything to him about religion. The devil, however, was quite willing to prejudice the lad, so very early in life he learnt to swear, although his father had a foolish and wicked objection to teaching him to pray. If you ever feel it incumbent upon you not to prejudice a piece of ground by sowing good seed in it, you may rest assured that the weeds will not imitate your impartiality, but they will take possession of the land in a very sad and shocking manner. Where the plough does not go, and the seed is not sown, the weeds are quite sure to multiply; and if children are left untutored and untrained, all sorts of evils will spring up in their hearts and lives."
Conservatives Vow Suit Over New Jersey Gay Conversion Law
Licensed therapists are banned from using conversion therapy to try to change a child's sexual orientation from gay to straight under a bill Gov. Chris Christie signed Monday, August 19, making New Jersey the second state to prohibit the practice. But a national Christian legal group that blocked an identical law from taking effect in California earlier this year vowed to sue New Jersey, saying the legislation violates the First Amendment rights of parents and therapists.
The new law prevents any licensed therapist, psychologist, social worker or counselors related to these professions from using sexual orientation change efforts with a child under age 18. Offenders jeopardize their licensed status under the new law, which does not apply to clergy, or anyone who is not licensed by the state.
In his signing statement, Christie noted many leading health organizations had determined such therapy was ineffective and harmful. "The American Psychological Association has found that efforts to change sexual orientation can pose critical health risks including, but not limited to, depression, substance abuse, social withdrawal, decreased self-esteem and suicidal thoughts," Christie wrote. "I believe that exposing children to these health risks without clear evidence of benefits that outweigh these serious risks is not appropriate."
Christie, a Catholic, had publicly stated his opposition to conversion therapy because he said he believes people are born gay. Asked about the bill at a campaign event on Monday, the Republican governor would only say, "The signing statement speaks for itself." Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver said his organization "will immediately file suit" at the request of New Jersey counselors and parents and national counseling organizations.
Nigeria: Islamic Extremists Slit Throats of 44 Villagers,Gouge Out Eyes of Surviving Victims
Suspected Islamist extremists killed at least 44 villagers this week in continuing attacks in an Islamic uprising in northeast Nigeria, The Blaze reports. According to an official from the National Emergency Management Agency, the attackers hit Dumba village in Borno state before dawn Tuesday and slit thier victims' throats - a new strategy since gunfire attracts security forces. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attackers gouged out the eyes of some victims who survived. Dumba is near the fishing village of Baga, where security forces in March gunned down 187 civilians in retaliation for an attack by extremists. It is difficult to get information from the area under a state of emergency, with cell phone and Internet service cut. Borno is one of three northeastern states under a state of emergency declared May 14 to crack down on the Boko Haram terrorist network. Since 2010, more than 1,700 people have been killed in attacks by Islamic insurgents, according to an Associated Press count.
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"I have heard of one man who said that he did not like to prejudice his boy, so he would not say anything to him about religion. The devil, however, was quite willing to prejudice the lad, so very early in life he learnt to swear, although his father had a foolish and wicked objection to teaching him to pray. If you ever feel it incumbent upon you not to prejudice a piece of ground by sowing good seed in it, you may rest assured that the weeds will not imitate your impartiality, but they will take possession of the land in a very sad and shocking manner. Where the plough does not go, and the seed is not sown, the weeds are quite sure to multiply; and if children are left untutored and untrained, all sorts of evils will spring up in their hearts and lives."
Conservatives Vow Suit Over New Jersey Gay Conversion Law
Licensed therapists are banned from using conversion therapy to try to change a child's sexual orientation from gay to straight under a bill Gov. Chris Christie signed Monday, August 19, making New Jersey the second state to prohibit the practice. But a national Christian legal group that blocked an identical law from taking effect in California earlier this year vowed to sue New Jersey, saying the legislation violates the First Amendment rights of parents and therapists.
The new law prevents any licensed therapist, psychologist, social worker or counselors related to these professions from using sexual orientation change efforts with a child under age 18. Offenders jeopardize their licensed status under the new law, which does not apply to clergy, or anyone who is not licensed by the state.
In his signing statement, Christie noted many leading health organizations had determined such therapy was ineffective and harmful. "The American Psychological Association has found that efforts to change sexual orientation can pose critical health risks including, but not limited to, depression, substance abuse, social withdrawal, decreased self-esteem and suicidal thoughts," Christie wrote. "I believe that exposing children to these health risks without clear evidence of benefits that outweigh these serious risks is not appropriate."
Christie, a Catholic, had publicly stated his opposition to conversion therapy because he said he believes people are born gay. Asked about the bill at a campaign event on Monday, the Republican governor would only say, "The signing statement speaks for itself." Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver said his organization "will immediately file suit" at the request of New Jersey counselors and parents and national counseling organizations.
Nigeria: Islamic Extremists Slit Throats of 44 Villagers,Gouge Out Eyes of Surviving Victims
Suspected Islamist extremists killed at least 44 villagers this week in continuing attacks in an Islamic uprising in northeast Nigeria, The Blaze reports. According to an official from the National Emergency Management Agency, the attackers hit Dumba village in Borno state before dawn Tuesday and slit thier victims' throats - a new strategy since gunfire attracts security forces. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attackers gouged out the eyes of some victims who survived. Dumba is near the fishing village of Baga, where security forces in March gunned down 187 civilians in retaliation for an attack by extremists. It is difficult to get information from the area under a state of emergency, with cell phone and Internet service cut. Borno is one of three northeastern states under a state of emergency declared May 14 to crack down on the Boko Haram terrorist network. Since 2010, more than 1,700 people have been killed in attacks by Islamic insurgents, according to an Associated Press count.
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