During Monday morning catch up with emails and responding to a discussion I was pleased to receive from dear Neil an urgent email, “…as it is time-critical for the New Year”. Therefore, please consider what the Lord has led our humble brother to share about strategic praying:
NEW YEAR, NEW FOCUS – PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT
About 3 weeks ago, I started writing an article on how to pray in a time of national crisis. I opened with: “Watching the world spiralling downwards in disarray, and feeling overwhelmed by the evil influences that appear to be controlling most aspects of society, I have felt totally inadequate. Where do we turn when we discover that those organisations, once thought to be bastions of truth, justice and good governance, turn out to be biased, corrupt and venal?”
Then, unexpectedly, the Lord led me in a different direction (sort of!). The Lord told me to examine the root causes of today’s dysfunctional society, before considering how to pray.
However, I pressed on with researching what the Bible has to say about prayer. I soon realised that the Bible contains so much Scripture relating to prayer that a full analysis would take years! Pondering this, I came to the conclusion that my approach and commitment to prayer lacked direction, seriousness, urgency and, above all, that I was ignoring the guidance God was trying to give me, i.e., that I should study why society is so polarised.
As it happens, I was also trying to trace my family tree, which was proving a diverse and complicated exercise. In a flash of insight, the Lord gave me a glimpse (an impression) of two immense family trees, both emanating from Abraham, one through the line of Isaac and the other through Ishmael. For a few moments, I felt the pain, the bitterness and resentment of the “un-chosen”, the rejected, those who perceived themselves as having been dispossessed. Fertile ground for demonic influence. I saw the spiritual reality of deep-rooted hatred, and understood that killing the perpetrators of evil in the worldly realm does not stop the evil threads of disaffection and alienation from growing, from generation to generation. Rather the opposite, it increases the hostility.
For example, you might think that after the revelations of the holocaust, the defeat of the Nazis, and the execution of Nazi leaders, the spirit of antisemitism would be dead. Not so, it has returned with a vengeance! In the same vein, a missionary who witnessed the execution of Mau Mau leaders, was convinced that the defiant shouts by the men being led to the gallows: “I’ll come back, I’ll come back” were manifestations of the demons that possessed them, rather than from the men themselves.
What is my point? As Paul says in Ephesians 6: “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” and “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests”. In other words, we are to pray in the real but unseen “heavenly places”, against the demonic hordes in the kingdom of darkness, where Satan rules. We catch glimpses of warfare, and the “rulers” and “authorities”, in the “heavenly places”, in scripture, e.g., in Daniel 10, Revelation 12, 2 Corinthians 10.
So, in seeking to determine what might be undermining the effectiveness of my prayers, the Lord has made it clear to me that my efforts have not been focused in the spiritual realm (“heavenly places”), and I have not sought to know (understand) my enemy. Time spent gathering information (“intelligence”), and seeking to recognise the enemy’s aim, is seldom wasted! Lucifer’s pride and ambition led to his seeking to exalt himself above God (Ezekiel 28:11-19) and to his downfall (Isaiah 14:12-14) Now known as Satan (the adversary), he seeks to undermine God’s plans for the redemption of mankind, and the second coming of Jesus. He roams the world sowing seeds of hatred and dissention through deception, deceit, envy, pride, unforgiveness, selfishness, etc. His aim is to so polarise society that God’s people become isolated, demoralised and ineffectual.
Paul and the NT disciples understood the essential nature of prayer as a weapon of spiritual warfare, and I’m sure many prayer warriors since (e.g., Rees Howells) have, and are today, fully effective in their intercession. I, however, recognise that I have under-appreciated the value of praying in the spirit, rather than in the flesh.
The Lord encouraged me to revisit, and study carefully, 2 Chronicles 7:14:
“ If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
This is a conditional promise of God, requiring 4 actions on my/our part as believers – “God’s people”.
If we fulfil God’s guidance, the 4 conditions i.e., humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and stop our wicked ways, then God promises to hear, forgive us and heal our land. It sounds straight forward, so why is our land in such a mess? First, I suggest that humbling ourselves (God won’t do it for us!) requires much more focus and determination, and it is something I have not addressed earnestly enough. Humility requires an act of the will, a determination to submit ourselves to God and to His word. Love and obey God, love our neighbours as ourselves, submit to one another. It should never be below my dignity to lie flat on my face before the Lord (yes really, not just thinking about doing it!).
The second and third stages are prayer and seeking God’s face. I believe the first stage is foundational, i.e., humility is necessary before prayer. We then seek to be in God’s presence, to talk to Him to hear from Him and, in the process, we should not be trying to impress others who may be praying with us.
The last requirement is to turn from our wicked ways. Surely that can’t mean me! Well, it is not addressed to non-believers, prostitutes, drug addicts, atheists, thieves etc., it is addressed to us, God’s people. Judgement begins at the house of God (1Peter 4:17) – I do not take the gospel of God, His precepts and statutes, anywhere near seriously enough. I continually “err and stray” from His ways. I can be opinionated, resentful, critical, dismissive, judgemental, unsupportive, hurtful, disrespectful and generally disobedient in all sorts of ways. I tell you the truth, the closer I come to God, the more I recognise my wicked ways. For me, conviction of sin and repentance is an ongoing process.
Clearly, the 4 conditions are challenging, but if we succeed, God promises to hear, forgive our sin and heal our land. Looking at this the other way round – if our land is not healed, it follows that we, God’s people, are not praying appropriately (James 4:3). We must diligently persevere in requesting the healing of our land.
God always keeps His promises: “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20). We can see examples of His absolute trustworthiness, expressed in the promises to (covenants with) His people Israel, and their survival over thousands of years (see recent article “Israel in the End Times”). Also, the incredible fulfilment, in accurate detail, of vast numbers of Biblical prophecies (about 85% so far). However, while I believe it appropriate to point these things out in prayer, I don’t think it right for us to “claim” or “demand” anything because of God’s promises.
Lastly, never quench the Spirit by ignoring an impulse to pray.
May the Lord bless, guide and encourage us all in our prayer life this coming year.
Amen
Footnote:
Neil Mackereth is author of SIGNS The Significance of Bible Prophecy, whose inspiring evening classes on End-times I attended twelve years ago at Winchester Vineyard church. So you may wish to Meet Neil Mackereth, author of ‘SIGNS’
I’m reminded of Apostle Paul’s strategic insight at 2 Cor 2:11 “for we are not ignorant of satan’s devices”!
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