When You Don't Know WHAT TO PRAY

 

WHEN YOU HAVE A Battle to Fight

There is no wisdom and no understanding

And no counsel against the LORD.

The horse is prepared for the day of battle,

But victory belongs to the LORD.

Proverbs 21:30-31

Father, haow greateful I am for Your protection, guidance, and strength. Thank you for being my Commander in Chief. Truly, there is no Defender, Warrior, or King like You-in heaven or on earth. Regardless of the enemies or challenges in my path, You easily overcome them. No matter the conflicts and trials I face, You are always triumphant. I am grateful for Your love and guidance.

   Lord, I recognize You observe the full battle before me and know exactly what to do. I also realize I perceive the conflict only in part-I see only what is immediately apparent. But You fight in ways that I can't even imagine, with both spiritual and physical armaments and strategies that are so much greater than my understanding or abilities. You are all-powerful and all-knowing, and everything is in Your presence. No one in heaven or on earth can help me more than You can. So I know I stand tallest and strongest when I am in submission to You. And I am safest as I walk in the center of Your will. Therefore, Father, You are my Leader, and I will follow you. I obey You, Lord, knowing there can be only one General deciding the battle plan.

   Father, help me not to become angry or defensive at those who attack, but to always be as forgiving and gracious as You are. Guard my lips, Lord. Help me always remember that so much of this battle is spiritual, and often people act as they do for reasons that are unknown even to themselves. My job is to obey You and represent You well. Thus, You call me to turn to You privately in prayer as conflicts arise-and not fight in public with words or actions. So that is what I will do, Father. Likewise, Lord, when I am hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, remind me of how vulnerable I am and that I need to take shelter in You. No matter what happens, I will not run away or give in to fear but will find my strength in You.

   Thank You for always being available and leading me to success regardless of the battle. Thank You for working through Your Holy Spirit to guide me strategically around the Enemy's traps, to empower me for the struggle, to overcome every obstacle, to heal my battle wounds, qnd to direct me to victory. Thank You for revealing Yourself to me and to others through this. Help me to wait on Your perfect timing, trust You every step of the way, and be willing to obey all You ask. To You be all glory, honor, power, and praise in every triumph.

   In Jesus's name I pray, Amen.

Stanley, Charles F. When You Don't Know WHAT TO PRAY. "When You Have a Battle to Fight." Zondervan, USA, 2021. pg 71-72,       This book includes 100 essential prayers for enduring life's storms. As I am using this as a devotional, God is revealing more areas that I am not even aware need confession and work. Thank you, Dr. Stanley.

Dressed for Battle

Ephesians 6:10-18

The Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² 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. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor 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. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸ And 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 Lord’s people.  NIV  Bible Gateway.com

    When you wake up in the morning and get ready for the day, you're probably not thinking about stepping onto a battlefield. But the enemy is all around us, constantly assaulting our heart and mind with temptations, adversities, emotional attacks, and more. And some days, it feels as though we are standing on the front lines of combat with no protection whatsoever.
   Therein likes our misunderstanding. You see, we do have protection. The Lord made provision for our nakedness in battle. He hasn't sent us to war unprotected. Instead, He's given us a suit of armor that the enemy can't penetrate—the armor of God.
   In today's passage, the apostle Paul tells us step by step how to prepare for our daily warfare, and yet most Christians don't pay much attention to the instruction. We may say, "Well, that's a nice metaphor, but we shouldn't take it literally. After all, the armor isn't real." Yes, it is. It is as real as the clothes on your back.
   I challenge you to intentionally put on your spiritual armor every day for the next seven days. Put on one piece at a time—the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the sandals of peace, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit. Just try it as you meditate daily on Ephesians 6:10-18, and watch what God will do.
Stanley, Charles F. "Dressed for Battle." In Touch: Daily Readings For Devoted Living October 2016. Atlanta: In Touch Ministries. page 22.

"Fasting for Spiritual Break Through" by Towns

Towns, Elmer L. Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough: A Guide to Nine Biblical Fasts. Ventura, CA: Regal Books. 1996

In the introduction, the author writes "If you seek a closer walk with God, this book is for you... I want every Christian in the world to learn to fast—to fast properly—to fast for results."  The publisher also provides a warning that you should consult your physician before beginning a fast.

God chooses the fast! Using Isaiah 58:6-8 as a base, the author describes nine suggested fasts that the reader can adjust to their own particular needs and desires. All fasts have a goal to grow closer to God. Also, there are four kinds of fasting: going without food; going without food or water; omitting certain foods or one meal a day; eating or omitting certain families of foods for a time period. The various food families are rotated, some food is eaten each day.

The nine fasts include:

• The Disciple's Fast—fasting for freedom from addiction (Matthew 17:20, 21)
• The Ezra Fast—fasting to solve problems (Ezra 8:21-23)
• The Samuel Fast—fasting to win people to Christ(1 Samuel 7:1-8)
• The Elijah Fast—fasting to break fears and other mental problems (1 Kings 19:2-18)
• The Widows Fast—fasting to provide for the needy (2 Kings 17:12)
• The Saint Paul Fast—fasting for insight and decision making (Acts 9:9-19)
• The Daniel Fast—fasting for health and physical healing (Daniel 1:12-20)
• The John the Baptist Fast—fasting for an influential testimony (Matthew 3:4; Luke 1:15)
• The Esther Fast—fasting for protection from the evil one (Esther 4:16)

 "Withholding food does not make us smart. God gives wisdom and knowledge to those who have the self-discipline to withhold food and to spend their time praying, reading His Word and seeking His will." This quote is from the "Practical Principles to Remember" section of the Daniel Fast page 140.

"Biblical Psychology" by Oswald Chambers

Chambers, Oswald. Biblical Psychology: Christ-Center Solutions for Daily Problems. Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House. 1995.

    In the publisher's foreword on page 7, we read "The book's themes and approach show Chambers at his most profound, yet the insights are so biblical and simple that any student of the Word can be nourished by its pages. Here Chambers truly feeds the soul with the Word of God."

 “Take up the whole armor of God…praying always…” (Ephesians 6:13, 18)

You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint (see Genesis 32:24-25). Don’t become a cripple by wrestling with the ways of God, but be someone who wrestles before God with the things of this world, because “we are more than conquerors through Him...” (Romans 8:37). Wrestling before God makes an impact in His kingdom. If you ask me to pray for you, and I am not complete in Christ, my prayer accomplishes nothing. But if I am complete in Christ, my prayer brings victory all the time. Prayer is effective only when there is completeness—“take up the whole armor of God…”

Always make a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives. God’s perfect will is unchangeable. It is with His permissive will, or the various things that He allows into our lives, that we must wrestle before Him. It is our reaction to these things allowed by His permissive will that enables us to come to the point of seeing His perfect will for us. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God…” (Romans 8:28)—to those who remain true to God’s perfect will—His calling in Christ Jesus. God’s permissive will is the testing He uses to reveal His true sons and daughters. We should not be spineless and automatically say, “Yes, it is the Lord’s will.” We don’t have to fight or wrestle with God, but we must wrestle before God with things. Beware of lazily giving up. Instead, put up a glorious fight and you will find yourself empowered with His strength.

“My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers December 16

 

"Destined to Overcome" by Paul E. Billheimer review

Destined to Overcome

 by Paul Billheimer

The Problem

   “Humanity is beset by a host of self-conscious evil spirit personalities called demons who are responsible for much, if not most, of the personality difficulties, complexities, spiritual pressures, strains and the aggravated forms of evil that characterize our modern social order…

The Solution

   “When once the technique of overcoming is understood, it can be used effectively no matter what form the demon activity may assume. God’s method of overcoming is specifically set forth in Revelation 12:11. After describing the war in heaven and the expulsion of Satan and his angels into the earth, the writer explains that in the warfare set up against the brethren as a result of Satan’s expulsion, the victory was won by ‘the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.’...the Holy Spirit has handed to the discerning saint weapons of supreme effectiveness in this spiritual warfare.

   “When one understands that evil spirits are self-conscious personalities who hear and see and feel and think, it becomes clear why the word of command in the Name of Jesus is effective… be specific and call them by their names, to command them in the Name of Jesus and upon the basis of the shed blood to go back to the abyss and stay there… Authority is transmitted and made effective only when you speak directly to them in the first person, always in the Name of Jesus of Nazareth and upon the basis of the shed blood.”

   Jesus Christ has delegated the enforcement of Calvary’s victory to believers. Luke 10:19 and Matthew 16:18-19

Prayer is where the action is!

   “And the least-gifted, the least-endowed, the least-known person in the world, by making prayer the main business of his life, may become greater in God’s book than the most highly endowed, the most brilliant and the most famous person in the world who fails to pray… God’s deepest secrets are reserved for those who take time to wait upon the Lord, who take time to be alone with Him. He has many secrets, many spiritual visions, many hidden revelations and insights which will be shared only in long hours of waiting upon God in the secret place of prayer… If we will not take time to be alone with God, we forfeit the most priceless and invaluable secrets known to divine intelligence.”

   Paul Bellheimer addresses the subject of illness, healing and sin when writing about his own health. The following information has been passed on to me by other sources.

Sources of Bodily Affliction:

V  Adam’s sin-death entered earth    Job 5:7; John 16:33; 1 Thessalonians 3:3-4

V  Personal Sin    John 5:14; Romans 2:9, 6:23

V  Satan         Job 2:7

V  For the glory of God    1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

According to 2 Cor. 6:3-10, 12:7-10, not all affliction will be removed this side of physical death.

The Requirements of Faith

Romans 6:22-23

²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. NIV Bible Gateway.com

  The moment we trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we enter into a life of faith. In other words, we live be assurance that God is all He claims to be and will do everything He promises. Salvation is instantaneous, but it takes a lifetime to learn and understand what that entails.
   As soon as we are saved, God begins what is known as sanctification, teaching us to be like Him. This is a process, as it takes time to learn to walk by faith, trusting what we cannot see.
   Even with God's Holy Spirit living inside of us, we nonetheless battle our flesh. We desire to do what God says and to see He sees, but because we have behavior patterns left over from our old sinful nature, we will falter and do things in our own strength, according to our own rationale. We must choose daily to follow His way.
   To grow in godliness, we must learn to listen to our Father. But since this is not a natural tendency, self-discipline is needed. It is best to set a specific time each day to meditate upon God's Word. Eagerly expect Jesus to speak to you, and listen to what He is saying. Write notes in your Bible with the date and what the Lord has impressed upon you. Then, apply the truth you learn, and observe the results.
   Hearing God's voice and being in tune with His Spirit are vital parts of walking in faith. But these things don't just happen; they require determined persistence. As with physical exercise, the more we strengthen our spiritual "muscles," the more the process becomes part of who we are.
Stanley, Charles F. "The Requirements of Faith." In Touch: Daily Readings For Devoted Living August 2016. Atlanta: In Touch Ministries. page 6.