Isaiah
1:18 New King James Version (NKJV)
18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” says
the Lord, “Though your sins
are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be
as wool.
Psalm 103 New King James Version (NKJV)
A
Psalm of
David.
Bless the Lord,
O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord executes
righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. 8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. 14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
15 As
for man, his
days are like
grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more. 17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, 18 To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
19 The Lord has
established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord,
you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word. 21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You ministers of His, who do His pleasure. 22 Bless the Lord, all His works, In all places of His dominion.
Bless the Lord,
O my soul!
|
Isaiah 52 New King James Version
(NKJV)
Awake, awake!
Put on your strength, O Zion;
Put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city!
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
Shall no longer come to you.
2 Shake yourself from the dust, arise;
Sit down, O Jerusalem!
Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion!
3 For thus says the Lord:
“You have sold yourselves for nothing,
And you shall be redeemed without money.”
4 For thus says the Lord God:
“My people went down at first
Into Egypt to dwell there;
Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 Now therefore, what have I here,” says the Lord,
“That My people are taken away for nothing?
Those who rule over them
Make them wail,” says the Lord,
“And My name is blasphemed
continually every day.
6 Therefore My people shall know My name;
Therefore they shall know in
that day
That I am He who
speaks:
‘Behold, it is I.’”
7 How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
8 Your watchmen shall lift up their voices,
With their voices they shall sing together;
For they shall see eye to eye
When the Lord brings
back Zion.
9 Break forth into joy, sing together,
You waste places of Jerusalem!
For the Lord has
comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has
made bare His holy arm
In the eyes of all the nations;
And all the ends of the earth shall see
The salvation of our God.
11 Depart! Depart! Go out from there,
Touch no unclean thing;
Go out from the midst of her,
Be clean,
You who bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you shall not go out with haste,
Nor go by flight;
For the Lord will go
before you,
And the God of Israel will be your
rear guard.
13 Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently;
He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.
14 Just as many were astonished at you,
So His visage was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men;
15 So shall He sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;
For what had not been told them they shall see,
And what they had not heard they shall consider.
So...it happened again.
Another demonic attack.
It was
nothing more than the usual shenanigans.
It was just another battle move, designed by Satan, to attack the woman
of God who’s just trying to move forward, while minding her own business.
Of course, my own “business” is nothing less than writing,
and creating, media that will minister to the people about the Salvation we
find in Christ Jesus. Another part of my
own business is to use the arts to teach the various ways those of us, who are
already saved, can hope to grow in Christ Jesus; and I wouldn’t neglect to
mention that it is also my business to share the ways we can be delivered from
that which Jesus Christ died to set us free—i.e. demonic oppression,
generational curses, witchcraft—you know, all the things some of us have to
deal with before even 9 am every morning!
Oh, I forgot I am to pray as I am led to do for others.
So experiening a demonic attack was nothing new for me. After all, Christians—whether newly born
again, and just starting to sip on spiritual milk; or seasoned veterans, feeding
off the steak and potatoes of the Christian life—know the truth. We have learned, and are still learning, each
day, that Ephesians 6:12-13 was not playing when it warned us that 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. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may
be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
Anyone who is walking with Christ knows that spiritual
warfare is nothing new. Most Christians
know that we are always at war against the devil—let alone the Christians who
are called and anointed to serve God in any of the vast areas of prayer
ministry--such as prayer warriors, intercessors, watchmen, or the brave, but controversial, deliverance
ministers who spend their time coming face-to-face with the demons they cast out of folks.
What was new, for me, however, was not the demonic attack, or
having to be—AGAIN!— engaged in battle.
I certainly wasn’t surprised, about what was happening, because it
wouldn’t be the first time that I was attacked after a victory. I had learned, over the years, that quite
often, when the Lord granted me favor and provided a victory, the enemy
immediately tried to return with some bogus retaliation. Either that, or he would do whatever he could
to turn the blessing into a curse—some of which I allowed him to do with some
foolishness of my own. Regardless, I was
fully aware of how these attacks can happen, having experienced these things
since I first became a Christian. To be
honest, I was even expecting some
sort of attack, or another, because God tells me, in His Word, to “be alert,
and sober-minded” because the enemy is always walking around, like a roaring
lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Believe me, it’s not that I am paranoid,
always thinking about what the devil is trying to do—rather than thinking about
what God has already done through
Jesus Christ. It’s just that if God says to be alert, to be
sober-mind…in a word, to be watchful,
then I have learned, the hard way, to be just that.
So, I was expecting something, which is why I wasn’t
completely surprised at the attack. The
attack, that time, presented in the form of a demonic dream during which I was assaulted by
a demon that appeared as someone I am very close to in my life.
And, honestly, that shook me to the core!
But, no. I can't lie. All that stuff can
be par for the course. So when the enemy came
at me again, I wasn’t surprised, as I
said…and said…a couple of different ways by now. What did
surprise me was the feeling of being fed up and unable to continue in the battle that welled up in me. What confused me was the feeling of being defeated.
Frustrated.
Desperate for the enemy’s tirades and charades to end.
That was new to me, that feeling of being finally over
it, already!
I knew that morning, when I woke up shaken, that I had reached a place where I just couldn’t deal not one more day with
the devil, his little minions, and their ways.
Stick a fork in me, I was done.
Complete.
Finito.
Fini!
And, frankly, once I accepted that I was completely over the
whole battle thing with Satan, it dawned on me that I just didn’t have the
strength left to fight.
Something that might be a little dangerous for a person
anointed and training to be a prayer warrior…
But it’s true.
I was weary...so weary...
You see, two weeks prior, I had to contend with an
overwhelming depression about turning 37 and still no marriage yet—even while helping friends go through divorces. And during my birthday week—the week of March
9th—I had to fight for my family, in the spirit realm, when all hell
started breaking loose. In true fashion,
the enemy became enraged when God arranged for my stubborn relatives to receive
a Word that got them thinking about leaving behind witchcraft and false
religion. There was definitely some
headway when that seed got planted; they actually started thinking (and asking
questions!) about living to obey Jesus and not the so-called ancestral spirits
that they believe protect us. So, no, the demons were
not thrilled at all.
A week after that, I attended a powerful prayer and
deliverance conference, hosted by Brother Kay Boachie and his wife, Ms. Esther
Boachie, of Fresh Fire Ministries (check out www.freshfireprayer.com). It was wonderful, and I learned so much. I rejoiced at the power of God as He moved in
my life, and in the lives of friends and relatives I invited. I was so excited when my family members asked if they could come—rather than my
begging and pleading for them to give it a shot. Glory to God! The Holy Spirit did it! I was so happy—but it
wasn’t all fun and games. Along with
those I invited, for whom I was used by God to intercede, and minister to, I spent
three straight days fighting for my own deliverance from bondages and
strongholds that were still affecting
my life. Following those victories, of
course, were more retaliations and attacks.
But, as I said, I was used to that. And I fought through those too.
And then I fought through a week of opposition as I tried to prepare my old manuscript to take my first novel, The Makeover, to print--something I have had so much struggle completing (and affording).
But then came that dream on the morning of Sunday,
3/22/15. In my dream, a demonic force
presented itself as one of my best friends.
This evil thing, dressed up in
the skin and likeness of my friend, held me captive and sexually assaulted me—making
me feel violated and disgusted by the time I woke up. The fact that this demonic force presented
itself as a dear friend, whom I care about, made me feel horrible because the
friend is one who is quite the easy-going, kind, guy-friend. He has his ways, ‘cause no one is perfect,
but he is always trying hard to get it right in all his relationships. He desires to serve, and please, God, and
never intentionally sets out to hurt anyone.
He is growing in Christ, in leaps and bounds, from the time he got saved
in 2012. He has even been learning to
admit to failure/mistakes with grace and humility. Overall, he is a good dude, a friend to my
family that I trust.
He has been through hell this past year, as the devil went straight after his family. I had been praying
constantly with him, especially during the past several days, regarding many areas of
difficulty he was fighting through in his life.
He had prayed with me, and for me, as well. God has allowed him and I, especially in the
first couple of weeks of March, to minister to, and encourage one another, as
we went through similar issues.
Imagine how it felt to dream my buddy hurting me in such a
way. Of course, when I work up, I knew
it was a demonic attack designed by the enemy to somehow plant weird thoughts
and feelings about my friend. And
although I knew my friend was never gonna hurt me in such a manner, it was hard
to even speak with him the day following that dream. I felt weird.
I hated having that image of such a good person implanted in my mind as
someone who had attacked me, in an evil dream.
I mean, I am used to him having my back spiritually and in other
ways. It really aggravated me, and made
me feel so annoyed, that Satan would not stop his foolishness.
Besides the disgusting feeling of being violated that I got
from such a filthy, demonic dream, I was so frustrated that he was attacking my
relationship with one of my prayer partners again. It was not the first time the enemy came
between me and someone God had placed into my life for us to pray
together.
First the enemy disbanded a
group of us that used to meet to pray and fellowship at least once per
month. When we gals got together, man! The Walls of Jerichos in our live just fell! But after a while, we just stopped meeting. The enemy was real subtle at first, too, making
sure to keep us all “busy,” whenever it was time to meet for prayer—even though
we met for other reasons. And when there
was prayer, there would be miscommunications and falling outs. Then there were outright divisions. Finally there was the end of us girls meeting
for prayer.
After that, God provided me another prayer partner. She was special because the Lord allowed me
first to minister to her about Christ, then to lead her to Christ, and then to
disciple her through her first couple of years in Christ, as she took her baby
steps forward. She was also my one and
only reader of my novels, when I first started writing, when no one else would read and support my work
at all. I would pray for her needs and
she would pray for mine.
Wasn’t long after God started allowing our agreed upon prayers to
catapult us forward into our destiny—by leaps and bounds—that my friend just
started pulling away. Then I, in my
wounded pride, pulled away too. Humph! I wasn’t gonna keep calling her and
not getting a response!
As soon as our prayers began to be answered—such as my
actually writing books after ten years of writer’s block, and her getting
married—we gradually began to fade in our friendship and prayer
partnership.
Then I moved to Florida, and began to pray with the one other
cousin I have, who is saved. We were on a
mission to stand in the gap for our relatives who are still in bondage to either false
religion and the pope, Voodoo, or worse, a combination of these two false religions. We prayed constantly and
powerfully. And by the time movement
began in our relatives' lives—such as her brother getting saved, her returning
to a previous church home she had felt separated from, as well as conversations with a near-atheist family member that God
would arrange, she and I began to be at war.
The enemy—along with our foolish flesh feeding into it—caused us to have two
major arguments. Major! One was about my not attending one of her
community events. Another was about
clothes my mother bought her as a gift.
Yes, major fights!
And although I have tried to make amends by reconciling with
my “sister” before bringing a gift for God at His altar—as the Bible commands
in Matthew 5:23-24—she has not returned my calls. I forgive her though.
But that prayer partnership is clearly now on pause.
So, now, with this new prayer partner, I was dreaming of this
male, platonic friend, violating me. And
even though I know he is not that type of man, I knew the enemy planted this dream, to invade my thoughts, so I
could wonder about it.
I knew better than to give it much thought. After all, the Bible states that one can chase away a thousand, but two can put ten thousand to flight (Deuteronomy 32:20). I knew that, and Satan knew that. So, of course, he wanted to keep two (or more) people from continuing to pray. And even though I knew that, and even though the Bible tells us to cast down vain imaginations
and make thoughts obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), I knew that I was going to wonder about it. Yes, there was still a part of me that would be thinking about that dream. It was a part
of me that has seen, in my work, as a mental health professional, and in service as an Intercessor in the
church—how supposedly good Christian people are turning on each
other—especially in these last days. I
was suddenly placed in a position to have to fight my automatic response, which
is to be suspicious , or at the very
least, awkward around him. Awkward is
the only way to feel while you are trying to figure out if such a horrible
dream is truly a demonic attack, or…
Was a prophetic warning from the Lord, or what?!
Hmmm.
So, there I was, suddenly feeling trapped and worried. Suspicious. Afraid to believe the dream, and afraid not
too. It’s not that I believed my good friend would
sexually violate me—cause this Haitian girl will fight—like with my fists and feet!
But does this dream mean that this friend, and current partner in prayer, is
going to hurt me in some way?
And I won't mention that it wasn't the first time I had dreamt a negative thing about this friend of mine. And it only started happening when breakthroughs began. But to send a dream of this man hurting that way?
Hence, the reason why it was difficult to look him in the eye
with such a horrendous image lodged in my mind.
And, of course, it is quite difficult to pray with a platonic
friend when you are wondering if you can trust him to have your best interests
at heart…
But, then, finally, I shook myself out of it. I forced myself, by the grace of God, to realize that it wasn't something to obsess over. The truth was, and always is, that I can
never put all my trust in men…I
just have to trust God. I cannot expect
anyone not to hurt me in life. I can
just trust that God will be there if someone does…
And as far as the dream was concerned, I was dismayed at the
lengths the enemy would go. I saw how the enemy doing it again—coming between me and a good friend and prayer partner, and had to just accept the fact that I'd had more than enough.
I was sick of all of it!
I got deflated right then.
I just couldn’t deal any longer.
I didn’t have the energy to fight for another friend that the
devil was trying to steal from me. After
all, I know the enemy does not like it when people of prayer get together and
make prayer a priority. He does not like
it when our phone calls go like this, “Hey, what’s up, man? You alright?” and “Yeah, Vacirca, I’m cool. Ready to pray? I got some requests I need you to fight with
me about in the Spirit.” And my
response, “No problem. And can you ask
God for my marriage please? And for my novels to become bestsellers for His
glory? And for my mom, aunts, and uncles to get saved?”
And we get right into
it. The enemy most likely hated our
get-down-to-business attitudes in our speech.
Besides, guy friends are different.
They ain’t got time to shoot the breeze like some of my female friends
do. So, of course, he and I got to
business and got things done with our prayers.
So, yes, I could see the enemy trying to make a division, or
a reason for me to
be suspicious of my friend, so that weirdness can come
between us.
I knew it all, but truthfully, I was weary. Frankly, I couldn’t think of one more fight
to come against the enemy with in spiritual warfare. I didn’t have any more strength to start binding
and loosing devils (Matthew 18:18). I
had no desire to even pick up my “spiritual weapons,” that are mighty through
God, for the pulling down of strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4).
All I could do was sit down, on my
little couch, and sink into a gloom about how another friend and prayer partner could be separated from me again. Those
thoughts led to the other thoughts about how many times I’ve lost
friendships—good Christian friendships—for no real reason at all. I was tired of these demons trying to keep me
isolated, not to mention unmarried. I
was tired of fighting to maintain my family relationships--with a whole
group of unsaved folks who mock my Christianity, throw my past in my face sometimes, while I can do not much more than be Christian about it. I was fed up with trying to maintain current relationships with those who
are equally-yoked but equally distant. Lord KNOWS I was sick of having to ask and plead and sometimes beg God to bring in the relationships I’ve been waiting on—like the one with this
husband who still is somewhere out there.
I could not fight another day, for
another person, who wasn’t gonna be around (according to Satan, that is).
So I just sat there.
And then the Lord…
Yes, the Lord!
He showed up with a combination of
Scriptures. First, I kept hearing, in my
spirit, “Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not His benefits…forget not His
benefits...forget not His benefits...”
I heard it over and over, in my
heart. It was from one of my favorite
psalms—Psalm 103.
At the same time, I could feel Isaiah 1:18 being dropped into my
spirit—telling me to come to the Throne so that God and I could “reason
together” as I state my position.
After several moments of the Spirit
urging me to come to Him, and my sitting there foolishly trying to get what God
was urging me to do, I finally got it!
I didn’t need to pray some prayer
of spiritual warfare every single time. I
didn’t need to shout at Satan that none of his foolhardy weapons formed against me (and my
loved ones) would prosper (Isaiah 54:17)!
I didn’t have the strength for
that.
All I had was God and His Word.
And He wanted to remind me of that.
So, quite broken, and confused, and
discouraged about the possibility of having yet another division between a friend/prayer partner and myself, I approached God with His Word.
After thanking God for His mercy, I
said something along these lines (it’s been a couple of emotional days so it
may not be verbatim, but this is the gist of it):
“Father God, I need You to remember
me, please. I need You to please
remember how many days I have served You.
I know I have sinned and made mistakes, but I have not given up on You
and You haven’t given up on me. Remember
how it felt for me to pray for others, and to see their prayers answered, even
while I still wait for my own prayers to be answered. Remember how I have tried to use what You
teach me for myself, to share and teach others about You, so we can better serve You. As much as I mess up every day, with my
temper, my pride, even my rebellion, please remember that by Your Grace, and by
the loving conviction of the Holy Spirit’s correction, I repent daily and get
right with You. Remember that I am Your
child, who has accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I am covered by His Blood.
That means, God, that according to Your Word, Satan
has no right! to attack me in my
dreams. He has no right to steal my relationships and friendships, or delay my
marriage. He has no right to cause people to reject me when I am trying to reach out
to them humbly. Remember me, God,
because I know it is You who is doing this work in my life. Please remember that I
am still holding on to You as You continue holding on to me.
Please remember me because of what Your Word says….”
Then, as led by the Spirit of God,
I pulled out Psalm 103 and proceeded to read each line to the Lord. I won’t go through all of it, but it went
like this. “Lord, it says here, that our
very souls, and all that we are within, ought to bless the Lord (vs. 1). It says that we ought not to forget Your
benefits (vs 2). Lord, it says here that
we have benefits as Your children, and that these benefits include the fact that
You are willing to forgive our sins and heal all our sicknesses—physical and mental (vs 3), and that You are
willing to redeem our lives from destruction—including the destruction of our
destinies, finances, and relationships!
It says that You crown us with lovingkindness and tendermercies (vs.
4)….”
Basically, I went through each and
every line of Psalm 103, reminding the Lord of His promises and how I am asking for them to
be fulfilled--not only in the issues I was having, but in all the things I am
praying for currently. I reminded God
how in verse 6, He promised to execute righteousness and judgment for those who
are oppressed. I asked Him to execute
judgment on that demonic force that attacked me in my dream, regarding my friend
and prayer partner, and for those spirits of discord that caused divisions
between myself and previous prayer partners--because, mind you, I only have conflict
with prayer partners!
I went on to remind the Lord how, in Verse 10, He promised not to deal with us according to how we deserve, based on
our sinful ways. I stated that since
Jesus covers my sins with His Blood, even though I may deserve all that the enemy has done, because I am a sinner, the Word
says God will not treat me according
to my sins. I reminded God that He said He would treat me according to the fact that I am His child in Christ, covered by
the Blood; and let us not forget how, in Verse 12, it says that He has removed my transgressions
far from me—as the east is from the west!
So, in that fashion, I asked God to
protect me--and my friend, for that matter. I asked the Lord to confirm that these series of ugly dreams were NOT a warning from Him, and if not, then to seek justice for me and for the latest friend under attack just for praying with me and being there for me. I asked God to give me justice against all my enemies in the spirit realm,
and those upon the earth who desire
to harm me, who are on assignment by Satan. I
reminded God of the troubles I have had, and how I was sick of the ways I, and
my friends, were having issues. Most of all, I reminded God of how these demonic forces contributed to, or
even caused, these issues/divisions/struggles.
In a sense, I asked God to get
these forces to stop harassing me!
And after going through that psalm,
line by line, and asking the Lord for fulfill His promise in my situation, I said, "So, God? What is Your answer, please?"
He
answered me directly.
Isaiah 52.
Those were the words that exploded
in my mind suddenly. Not being as
familiar with that chapter in the famous book of Isaiah, I could not get there
fast enough. And when I saw God’s
response, I nearly fell out!
Right there, I knew God had heard me recite His own
Scriptures back to Him and “state my case” as I did, obeying Isaiah 1:18. And His response was the following from that Scripture:
“Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful
garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. 2 Shake yourself from
the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your
neck, O captive daughter of Zion! 3 For thus says the Lord:
“You have sold yourselves for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.”
4 For thus says the Lord God: “My people
went down at first Into Egypt to dwell there; then the Assyrian oppressed them
without cause.
5 Now therefore, what have I here,” says the Lord,
“That My people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them make them wail,” says the Lord…
Imagine my joy!
This Scripture answered to exactly what I’ve been going through
recently, and in the past! God was
letting me know that I—as a member of His people in Christ (Jerusalem) needed to
put on my beautiful garment. I knew, in
my heart, He was reminding me of the scripture of Romans 13:14, where we are
commanded to “clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Yes, Jesus is my beautiful garment. Yet, Jesus is also my “armor of God.” I am covered by the Blood of Jesus, but also covered by 0Jesus Himself!
God also let me know, in Isaiah 52: 2-3, that I needed to shake myself from the dust…which I believe meant my fallings of the past, in order to stand up as a daughter of
His. He also wanted me to loose myself (Mathew 18:18) from any captivity the enemy is still
trying to place upon me and my neck. I
have to because I wasn’t redeemed with money (vs. 3) but redeemed by the Blood
of Jesus! Verse 4 spoke to my heart
because God ministered to me about freeing myself from my personal Egypt, and
the Spirit of Pharaoh—issues of my past constantly coming back. I actually even shared a word on it on my
blog post (See Take Back Your Life, Part
IV: Overcoming the Spirit of Pharaoh, posted February 27, 2015). God let me know that He always sees how my oppressors
(the Assyrian) is trying to oppress me without cause (vs 4).
Most importantly, God let me know that He would
cause my oppressors “to wail” (vs. 5)!!
Yes, God promised that He will inflict upon my enemies that which
will cause them to wail!
And I will tell you what: immediately, I not only
felt encouraged in the Lord, and His Word—a direct answer to my need for
help—but I knew God was on my side.
Basically, God was telling me that He was sick of
Satan’s mess too!
And since then, I have not had one dream during
which my good buddy and prayer partner attacks me. Since that day, I have slept quite well.
Am I going to have issues from time-to-time? I pray God forbids more issues, but if He allows
them, guess what? I can pray. I can
battle in the Spirit of God. I can
command the enemy to flee--taking the authority, in prayer, that Jesus died to give
us all. But now I know, even before I
take on a battle with forces that may be too strong for me, I will trust the Lord, and His Word, and let Him tell me what to do and how to do it.
No matter what, even when you don’t have the
strength left to fight as we are commanded to do in prayer, remember God has
already given us a weapon that is living, and breathing--a weapon that is already prepared to doing the fighting for us--His Word.
Take that Word, present it to the Lord, and remind
Him of His promises. Remind Him that He
is not a man that He should lie, nor the Son of Man that He should repent (take
back His Word)—as it states in Numbers 23:19.
Go to the Lord and remind Him that You learned that
the promises of God are “yes in Him and amen in Him” according to 2 Corinthians
1:20.
He has already
answered any request that is in alignment with His will—which, of course,
is already written in the Word of God.
When that devil starts troubling you, you can remind
Satan, of God’s word too—just as Jesus did in the Wilderness in Matthew, Chapter
4. Watch him flee as quickly as the Word
causes him to “wail.”
No matter what is going on, you can stand on the
Word of God and know the battle is already won!
Here is a prayer to help you begin using the Word of
God:
BUT, WAIT! FIRST THINGS FIRST!
For those who have not yet accepted Christ, I would
handle that first if I were you. Stop playing, and
admit you need Your Savior. Stop
battling alone in life. Remember the
“benefits” mentioned in Psalm 103 are not for the creations of God (all mankind), but for the children of God!
So you can ask Jesus into your life like this:
“Jesus, I
confess I have sinned against God and against others. I ask for Your forgiveness for all my
sins. Please wash me clean with Your
Blood. I believe You died on the Cross
for me and rose on the third day. I ask
You now to be my Lord and Savior. I accept Your Gift of Salvation. Please come into my heart and take control of my life. I ask You to fill me with the Holy
Spirit.”
Congratulations! You are now saved by God and born again!
I suggest you ask God to place you in one of
His churches, and get yourself baptized by water, then baptized in the Holy
Spirit. Anyway, once you accept the Gift of Salvation with that prayer above, or one like it, just ask God to lead
your every step as You walk with Christ.
He will.
For those who are in Christ…here is that prayer to
help you get into His Word and to use His Word—especially if it is a struggle
to get into it, as many of us do.
Trust me, I have to ask God constantly to keep me in His Word cause if
not, I would be reading and writing novels all day and forgetting the most
important Book of all—the Holy Bible, which is the only one that can actually save my
life.
So try something like this:
“Father God, I
ask for Your Holy Spirit to give me a hunger and thirst for Your Word. Help me to get into Your Scriptures daily,
and when I cannot read it, help me to listen to it. Help me to meditate on Your Word so I may
grow in Christ, and know what Your will is for my life. I believe that You have caused all holy
scriptures to be written for our learning.
Help me to hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that I may
be encouraged, supported, and armed with the weapon of Your Holy Word. Help me to always embrace the joyful hope of
everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Help me to learn Who You really Are as I
learn the scriptures. Thank You for
being willing to make Yourself known to us, and for showing us the way of
salvation through faith in your Son. I ask you now to teach me how to serve
you, for Your Glory, through Your Word, so that I will always be ready. Help
me, by Your Spirit, to hear Your Holy Word, so that I may be equipped for every good
work, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Heavenly
Father, give me faith to receive Your Word. I ask for the understanding to know what it
means, and the will to put it into practice through Jesus Christ, our Lord. May it be a lantern to my feet, a light to my
path, and strength to my life. Take me
and use me to love and serve all people.
I ask for this in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the Name of your
Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. Thank
You. Amen.”
Please pray this for yourself, and as you intercede for those God places on your heart. Of course, pray in your own way, from your own heart, with your own words. This is just a sample of what you may say--a guide. Remember, the best thing is to be like the disciples in Luke 11:1, and ask Jesus directly to "teach us to pray."
May the Lord continue to use this series to bless
you and keep you for His glory. In Jesus
Name.
P.S. Please IM me on Facebook or post your prayer requests on this site if you need prayer. I am available to partner in prayer with you if God leads you to pray with me.
Prayer request page:
http://esther31ministries.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_19.html
