Over the past 3-4 months I been teaching on prayer on Sunday nights at Neel Road.
This is by far one of my favorite quotes about prayer!
“Very few people think that we are in a war that is greater than World War II, or than any imaginable nuclear war. Few reckon that Satan is a much worse enemy than any earthly foe, or realize that the conflict is not restricted to any one global theater, but is in every town and city in the world. Who considers that the casualties of this war do not merely lose an arm or an eye or an earthly life, but lose everything, even their own souls, and enter a hell of everlasting torment? Until we feel the force of this, we will not pray as we ought. We will not even know what prayer is…Prayer is the communication with headquarters by which the weapons of warfare are deployed according to the will of God…Prayer is the walkie-talkie of the church on the battlefield of the world in the service of the word. It is not a domestic intercom to increase the temporal comforts of the saints. It malfunctions in the hands of soldiers who have gone AWOL. It is for those on active duty.”
There is a story in the Bible about a king named Jehoshaphat who once faced a huge battle with surrounding nations. (2 Chronicles 20:1-2) He was incredibly out numbered and according to the Scripture he “was afraid.” Did I mention that he was only 35 years old when he became the king and had to deal with this problem?
This was going to be the biggest battle he had ever faced in his life. So he came up with the very best strategy to make sure that he would win the battle…prayer.
Yep. He prayed. Or let me put it this way – he put his face down on the ground and prayed like crazy because he knew that there was no way in this world that he was going to win this battle by his own strength or power!
Actually the Scripture says this,
“Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 20:3-4)
So not only did he pray like crazy, but he asked everyone else involved to pray like crazy too.
What battles are you facing that you know you will not win by your own strength or power? Why not turn them over to God? After all, he wants to see you win.
