Revival Day Nine - Part Two

Like we have before every service, Chris and I gathered to pray this afternoon. It might sound silly to some but I even prayed against the fly that bothered me this morning. I knew I would be preaching on spiritual warfare. Sure enough when I started preaching the fly bothered me for a moment but I spoke against it and recalled our prayers against that pest. I kid you not the fly never bothered me again the rest of the night. Tonight I preached from [Eph 6:10-18] about the spiritual war we are in.

It is war. The enemy never stops. The enemy is relentless in his opposition against God. Every day and all day he opposes God and the work of the church. He does it through music, television, bad influences of friends, temptations and sin. It never ends. Satan may be defeated today but I assure you he will not stop. He will not give up. We are talking about the one who tried to take on God in heaven to usurp him as ruler of the universe. Anyone that is audacious enough to oppose God to his face in heaven is not going to give up down here.

We are in a war. We often forget it. We often do not take the war seriously but I assure you God does and our enemy does. Just look around. We are getting whipped. We are losing the war on many fronts. Paul exhorts us to be strong in the power of God's might. I asked the congregation how does a believer get strong in God's might. They came up with two answers. By reading scripture and praying. We took the time to get more practical. I asked what method people used in reading scripture. Some did it topically. Some used devotion books. Others had reading plans. I offered my plans of working through a book of the Bible or starting in Genesis and reading through to the book of Revelation at your own pace. I have been using this method since 1995.

I offered the three things that have helped me the most in prayer. First by far is praying scripture. When I do this not only do I learn more scripture but I also know I am praying what God wants to answer. The second suggestion includes praying out loud. This helps me stay focused. The other thing I do is write out my prayers. I have been doing this for over two decades. It has helped me to grow in my prayer life by leaps and bounds. I am able to stay focused and my mind does not wander.

The rest of the message centered on the armor of God. We looked at each piece and then recounted the purpose for wearing armor in the first place. That is because we are going to war.

During the invitation one of our men came and told me he felt like he was supposed to pray for me. What a blessing. I see God at work in the hearts and lives of these people. We have another whole week of services scheduled. I pray God will break up the fallow ground and turn this community around.