Spiritual Weapon: Effectual Prayer
Thursday, January 1, 2009 at 02:27PM Effectual prayer is the second weapon in the spiritual arsenal outlined in my 12/29/08 post entitled "W.E.A.P.O.N.S. of Spiritual Warfare". Over the next few days I will review the five remaining weapons. Later, I will also post on how to study God's Word (weapon one) and I will share a special warfare prayer.
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.-James 5:16
Effectual means fully adequate to achieve a desire. Fervent means greatly emotional or zealous. Prayer is a reverent request. Avail suggests being of use or advantage. Effectual prayer requires your soul (both emotions and intellect) being dedicated to God and to the thing you ask of Him. Effectual prayer works.
When we are born again, we are able to see the difference between a sin and the sinner. Spiritual warfare for me is the art of combating sin while forgiving the sinner, whether that sinner is myself or someone else. When we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we are able to perceive those who hurt us as broken people in need of prayer, rather than as embodiments of evil.
Prayer accompanied by the study of God's Word also helps us to discover and develop the spiritual gifts (preaching, prophecy, mercy, giving, helping, teaching, pastoring, etc.) that God has given us in order to serve Him on earth. In that way, prayer draws us closer to God and to His purpose for our lives, thereby blocking the efforts of Satan to draw us away from God.
The art of praying really confused me in the beginning of my Christian life, because I constantly compared my tongue-tied simple prayers to those of the "professionals" I heard in the pulpit or on TBN and CBN.
What relief I felt when I realized that God doesn't judge my prayers on their polish or length, but He cares most about my sincerity. God wants to know that I want to obey Him (Psalm 119:145), that I trust Him (Psalm 23:1, Philippians 4:6), that I am willing to humble myself before Him (Daniel 10:12, Psalm 5:2).
God responds to prayers that seek and invoke His will. In the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), Jesus models such a prayer for us:
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." Bless the Lord; worship Him, if you expect Him to hear you.
"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Pray in line with His will.
"Give us this day our daily bread." Pray expectantly. Call Him your provider.
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Recognize that God cannot forgive you or listen to your prayers if there is anyone whom you have not forgiven.
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Ask the Lord for the power and faith to obey Him.
"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." Know that God is the solution to every problem and the answer to any question. Know that God alone is God.
I think sometimes we hear the term "spiritual warfare" and fear that if we so much as approach this practice we will call the wrath of Satan on ourselves. But if we study God's Word, we'll find that Satan is already a defeated enemy who is unable to take away anything we don't give him (Hebrews 2:14-15, Revelation 12:11). The way to see Satan defeated in your own life is to walk in the will of God and use the weapons He has provided you.
If you have an example of using prayer as a spiritual weapon, please leave a comment to share it.
Next: Armor of God
(Illustration by Nob3L)
Reader Comments (1)
I think sometimes we hear the term spiritual warfare and fear that if we so much as approach this practice we will call the wrath of Satan on ourselves.