Prayer Warrior Series, Part 1 - How To Be A Winner As One

  Do you think being a prayer warrior takes extra strength or courage?

Regular warriors – in a sport or the military – might need these, but prayer warriors don’t. Biblical figures were just like you.

We can’t ask God for something while having unconfessed sin in our heart, of course, or while doubting, or having wrong motives, any more than we can eat a burger while sleeping. The actions are opposites. One will not let you do the other.

But, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. (1 John 1:9) He will help us by increasing our faith. He’ll give us strength to avoid temptation. Thanks to Jesus’ sacrifice, we can boldly approach the throne of grace.(Heb. 4:16)

The way to have strength for this is to have the joy of the Lord. It comes from inside a person who trusts Jesus Christ by faith, calling on Him to save them from their sins. Only saved people have God in them through the Holy Spirit. Anyone else only has the happiness of the world, which can change a lot. Having the joy of the Lord means not letting circumstances get you down. Remember the Bible quiz question, “Who taketh your joy from you?” The answer is “no man” – it means nothing that happens can rob you of the joy of the Lord. Happiness, yes, but not your joy. You can always choose to have the joy of the Lord.

Elijah is a great example. He lived in Israel when wicked king Ahab ruled. He didn’t like how the evil king hated God. But, he kept faith that God was with him, He kept the joy of the Lord and didn’t let \circumstances rob him of that.

James 5:17 calls Elijah “a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.” This means the earth where Israel was, of course. He had the same passions we do; that’s where I said, all these figures you see were ordinary people used by God. Elijah got very upset at the sin in Israel. When he was bothered, he turned to God like we should.

God isn’t a genie in a lamp. Elijah didn’t just say that and boom, it happened. He prayed earnestly – with faith and with his heart set on the right motives of letting God be glorified. He was persistent – he told God all that was happening, realized that it was upsetting God, too, and asked God to show up. He had to pray according to God’s will, so he had to know the Bible to know how to pray. But, he knew God wanted to send a message to wicked King Ahab. So, when God led him to, 1 Kings 17:1 shows he just wentp to the palace, had an audience with the king, and told him God’s’ judgment. Of course, he had to run for his life, but Ahab had been warned.

We see another great feat later, in 1 Kings 18 – you can read on your own about the argument between Elijah and the prophets of the false god Baal. In fact, when we call -or if we cdon’t call, you call Sal or I later this week – and tell us what you thought of 1 Kigns 18 and what God did to prove He was God.

The point is that God wants to show up in a mighty way. Yet,t He also wants us to want it as well. So, He calls us to pray. So, pray earnestly, like Elijah. Pray for souls to be saved, name specific people, and pray for an opening if He leads, for you to share His Word. Remember, you can tell them ABC – Admit you’re a sinner, that you don’t deserve God’s perfect Heaven, Believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead, and Call on Him to save you, Confess your sins and Choose to turn from your sins and let Him make you new inside.

God wants to do great things, but He wants us to pray according to His will. But, when we do, He can use us. He can use you as a mighty prayer warrior. The men and women of the Bible were just like you. They had to rely on God’s power. So, be like Elijah this week and pray. For the virus to end so we can have Youthquake again, church camp, and so on. Sal and I are praying, too, for all of you.

My best friend from college, Sander, lives in Maryland. He has a friend in California he knew who was 80 that died in the last day or two.

Sander trusted Jesus to save him from his sins last year. I don’t know if his friend was saved. But, what is important is that – when I called (and had to leave a message) offering my sympathy, I felt something different than I had in years past when friends of his died.

This time, I felt the Holy Spirit uniting us as believers. It is a special feeling which comes when we remember that we will be together forever in Heaven someday. I’m so glad to know Sander is saved! Whether his friend is or not, God will one day wipe away every tear. We will have no more sorrow or parting in Heaven. It will be such great joy!

Earlier this month, I shared how we, as believers, need to walk in the light. We are all united by the Holy Spirit. However, just as in last week’s example on prayer - where I used the comparison of trying to eat a burger and sleep at the same time – we can’t be walking in the light while we are following a path of darkness. We have to be focused on the Lord and His desire to guide and work in us in order to experience the full joy of that unity of believers. Otherwise, we miss out on so much, and God must get us back to Him. This is why Ephesians 5:17 says to be filled with the Spirit. The Greek word translated “filled” means to let it have total control; that you are so full of the Spirit it rules over every part of you.

Our flesh nature means we struggle with this. Still, the more we read our Bibles, pray, focus on God’s Word, and interact with other believers, the easier it becomes. At times, it means we need to pray and ask God for help in a situation. Other times, it means giving up something or at the least spending less time on it because it distracts us from our walk with God. Just as we should all walk in the light, we should walk united in love for one another. This is why there are two answers to “Walk how?” in the first Bible quizzing: “In love” (Ephesians) and “In the Spirit” (Galatians.) (A good way to remember the difference is that Galatians 5:22-23 lists the Fruit of the Spirit, so verse 16 is talking about the Spirit.)

One way to do this is by praying. A contact from Zimbabwe with my online ministry told me she’s praying for you. Isn’t it amazing someone from way over there cares about you? Maybe not by name but she understands how hard life is, and when she prays God honors that.

We know each other, of course. That can cause problems if there are divisions. But, it shouldn’t. If we’re to be united, where we’re from or who we are shouldn’t keep us from praying. Instead, it should get us doing something else important – empathizing. This means we should care for each other, bearing one another’s burdens. If something someone does bothers us, we should talk to them via the Matthew 18 principal and work it out, and we should always pray for them. We don’t know what kind of struggles some people have. When we learn to think what each other is dealing with, or might be hiding, we can pray better and be more united. We bear one another’s burdens. (Gal. 6:2)

When non-believers see us united in love and praying for them, they will almost always be glad. Some might fight it, but remember, there may be powerful spiritual warfare going on. Or, they may need us to show we care in other ways. Either way, we should pray for the lost, too, and for chances to share the Gospel with them and lead them to Christ.

When we get back together, I will share how Sander finally trusted Jesus, and the steps to it. We must go through hard times sometimes for others to see God – part of his testimony is that seeing my faith after I broke my leg, and how quickly God healed me, helped him.

(Note - I'm going to remove the promise that we're praying for them - there's no need for it since it's a personal greeting - when I can, like here. I put it in the first 1 or 2 just to give you some idea of how I did it.