Prayer and the Spiritual Battle
Good Morning,
Romans 15:30 “Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;”
vs. 31 “That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints;"
vs. 32 “That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.”
As you can see, Paul is on another missionary journey: starting churches, training disciples, and fighting the spiritual battle. Satan uses evil men to hinder the work of God, to stop churches from being started, and to turn them from the faith.
Do you think that the churches that closed over the centuries ended their ministry because no one cared or because God no longer wanted a preacher and church in that city? Of course not! There is an enemy seeking to destroy the work of God. What does Paul ask for? PRAYER! When more missionaries are coming home from the field than going, is it because God does not care?
Notice the phrase, “strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.” A war is being waged, and someone needs to be in earnest, sincere prayer before the throne of God on behalf of the missionaries. The casual dinner time prayer to “Bless the missionaries” is shallow at best. How would a fighter do in the ring if he walked up to his opponent with that level of passion and sincerity?
If the great Apostle Paul needed some to strive with him in prayer to be delivered from evil men, we must be realistic and ask God who else needs that fervent prayer? Perhaps it may be your spouse, your children, your pastor, or your church staff. I understand that Paul was significantly more useful to God than us common folks, but do we not understand that Satan wants to hinder and frustrate the work of God in our homes, churches, and nations? Satan will focus his repeated attacks on the child of God until the weariness of battle begins to overwhelmed the Christian to the point of quitting. Prayer is vital!
We need to learn to pray and to seek the hand of God to protect and bless those out on the front lines of the Gospel ministry.
Pastor