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Warriors

Posted on by Prayer Warriors Advance, LLC

Scriptural Foundation:

Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

John: 16:32-33 New King James (NKJV)

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

2 Timothy 2:3-4 New King James Version (NKJV)

These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.  These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

Revelation 17:13-14 New King James Version (NKJV)

Reflection:

In the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of warrior is a brave or experienced soldier or fighter. In the 15+ years I have been walking with the Lord, I have gone through some stuff. In the very beginning, I naively thought that as soon as you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior that all of a sudden life would become easier.  In the beginning, it was easy.  As a baby Christian, I feed on the milk of the Word and absolutely loved it.  I prayed and got a response almost immediately.  As I transitioned to the meat of the Word, things became a little more challenging.  The enemy would have you believe that you are the biggest failure as a Believer that ever lived.  These attacks will come showering down on your mind like a relentless missile strike.   The enemy hoping to discourage and disrupt the progress you have made with the Lord.  When the Holy Spirit started revealing my gifts then things became unbearable in the natural. Paul breaks it down very vividly in Ephesians 6 the Armor of God.  We as Believers have to come to terms with that we are at war in the spirit.  In everything we should turn to Jesus as an example.  Before He was taken away to be crucified and fulfill His assignment on earth, Jesus prophesied to His disciples as we draw closer to the fulfillment of our purpose things in the natural will become difficult, but He had already overcome the world (John: 16:32-33).  If you study out the lives of his disciples, they all encounter serious opposition, most to the point of physical death.

A couple of years ago, I came across a great book called Dress to Kill, A Biblical Approach to Spiritual Warfare and Armor by Rick Renner.  The author focused on each item in the Armor of God and broke down its significance to the battle that we face on a daily basis.  We as Believer can’t be naive to believe that passive faith is going to get us across the finish line.  It is not enough any more to say “I will pray for you” and walk away or post things on social media let “sending prayers”.  These statements by themselves are hollow if you don’t take the time to do what you actually say.  My Pastors tell us all the time that there is no better time in the present to pray for people.  Sure in the beginning it is uncomfortable to pray with a family member, friend or co-worker, but when you start realizing that you are sowing seed for the Lord with each connection it becomes easier.  You don’t need to be the in five-fold ministry; you just have to be available and willing to share your heart when the Lord calls. Take your place in the army of the Lord….helping to plunder hell and populate Heaven.

Seeking Revelation:

Grab your notebook:

    • List out the different “fronts” in your life. For example – home, work, traveling soccer, fire house auxiliary, etc.
    • Ask the Lord to put someone on your heart to pray for. Gradually the Lord will create opportunities to ask “can I pray with you?”
    • The more you pray with individuals the more testimonies that you will hear and will help strengthen your faith to advance in the Spirit.  

 

Prayer

Posted on by Prayer Warriors Advance, LLC

Scriptural Foundation:

For many are called, but few are chosen.

Matthew 22:14 King James Version (KJV)

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Romans 12:10-13 New King James Version (NKJV)

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:10-11 New King James Version (NKJV)

 Reflection:

In the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of prayer is an earnest hope or wish, solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God.

Growing up, I understood prayer as memorizing certain prayers like the Lord’s prayer, Hail Mary, etc. Even as a young child, it always seemed very repetitive and mechanical to me. I couldn’t comprehend how the God of the universe was so stagnant when creation was so vibrant and complex. Thankfully, that was not where my spiritual journey ended.  After I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I learned that prayer was not a ritualistic string of statements summed up by prayer, but something a lot more than that, they are candid discussions with the God.  The frankest conversations of anguish and spiritual joy are captured in the Book of Psalms.  These seemly one sided conversations by King David are great examples of the spiritual process of dying to flesh and becoming more aware of the Lord’s presence.

In the most basic of form, prayer is the interface between the natural realm and the spiritual realms. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we learn how to navigate through this communication medium to the Lord. For those that take the time (Matthew 22:14), prayer can become life changing for them and for the individuals around them (Romans 12:10-13). What I have learned in the short time, about 16 years, of serving the Lord; is that your primary responsibility as a Believer is to connect with the Lord through prayer.  Money maybe the highest form of currency in the natural, however prayer ignited by faith is the highest form of currency within time (natural) and eternity (spiritual).  Once you get the revelation of that, your life will begin to transform into something that you never dreamed possible (2 Peter 1:10-11).

Seeking Revelation:

In my humble opinion, the best way to document change in one’s life is to journal it. It doesn’t have to be fancy, a simple notebook that helps you can reference back to a place of remembrance.  In the book of 1 Samuel, David witnessed to Saul all the times the Lord had vindicated him from danger for the purposes of belittling the current threat which was Goliath:

1 Samuel 17:34-36 New King James Version (NKJV)

But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.”

Grab your note book:

  • Think back and list all the times in your life where you overcame a difficult situation.
  • Present that list to the Lord in prayer. Don’t be surprised if the Holy Spirit doesn’t add to the list things that you have totally forgotten about.
  • Keep that list as a reference when things get challenging. In essence, you’re creating your own trophy “room” of victories that the Lord had delivered you.