Prayer and Spiritual Warfare – 11

                                                     Prayer and Spiritual Warfare – 11

Subject – The Lance of Praying in the Holy Spirit

By Rick Welborne

Ephesians 6:10-21 (NIV)
¹⁰  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
¹¹  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
¹²  For 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.
¹³  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
¹⁴  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
¹⁵  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
¹⁶  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
¹⁷  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
¹⁹  Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,
²⁰  for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
²¹  Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. 

--I pray that you are being intentional about putting on your armor every day and how it represents (every part) the Lord Jesus Christ. Please understand that when you are putting it on you are putting on Jesus!

Romans 13:11-14 (NKJV)
¹¹  And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
¹²  The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
¹³  Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
¹⁴  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

--Put on the armor of light…put on the Lord Jesus Christ and do it every day! Someone trying to be funny asked “Why do I have to put on the armor of God every day if I do not take it off?”

--Part of being intentional is forming good godly habits every day…how ridiculous…Well, I brushed my teeth yesterday, I bathed yesterday, I used deodorant a week ago…please do them every day! Wake up every day!

--First, it is a spiritual battle:

Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV)
¹²  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

--Second, we honor Jesus by putting Him on every day and by praying in the Spirit! Not putting Him on daily implies that you do not have that personal intimate relationship with Him.

--As I continued to meditate on the armor of God my mind kept going back to the Roman soldier’s lance, his spear. I wanted to be careful not to imply what the Word was not saying.

--Two ministers of whom I have great respect for their wisdom of the Word and their walk with God…both speak of the lance of prayer according to verse 18…Pray in the Spirit!

--Rick Renner Dressed to Kill is where much of the information has come from in this series and Robert Morris at Gateway Church in his message The Power of Words speaks of the lance of prayer.

--I believe the Apostle Paul obviously studied all the armor of the Roman soldiers who were assigned to watch over him in prison…I personally believe he saw their spears and that was his inspiration here.

--Renner points out different lengths and shapes of lances and their purposes. He shares about lances that were five to six feet long and others as long as telephone poles.

--He speaks of spears used for close combat and others made to be thrown at the enemy…some were made for holding ground when the enemy would come in like a wave.

Ephesians 6:18 (NKJV) ¹⁸  praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…

--This verse can be translated “Pray with all manner of prayer.” “Pray with all kinds of prayer.” “Pray with all kinds of prayers that are available for you to use.”

--How often should we pray? 1 Thes. 4:17 says that we are to pray without ceasing. Tonight we will look at examples of our lances of prayer.

1. Let us first establish that the lance as well as the rest of the armor is only symbolic.

--David wanted Goliath to know it was not the human power or strength of his weapons. He knew where his help came from.

1 Samuel 17:44-47 (NKJV)
⁴⁴  And the Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"
⁴⁵  Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
⁴⁶  This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
⁴⁷  Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands."

2. The lance of prayer gives us faith to believe God will protect us when the enemy comes in strong!

--When the soldier is attacked especially by horsemen (Egypt had many)..the long lance (20 ft. long) could be anchored into the ground and pointed toward the enemy to minimize his attack.

--When it appears as the enemy is coming in like a wave or like a flood...the lance of prayer in the Spirit will stop them.

Isaiah 59:16-19 (NKJV)
¹⁶  He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
¹⁷  For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
¹⁸  According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; The coastlands He will fully repay.
¹⁹  So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.

--When the enemy comes in like a flood, raise up your lance of prayer against him...do spiritual warfare thru powerful prayer! The words in our mouth are the words of prayer inspired by the Spirit of God.

--God's Word will be in our mouth stopping the power of the enemy. Pastor, I am fearful of Satan’s attacks. 

Isaiah 54:17 (NKJV)
 ¹⁷  No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD. 

3. The lance of prayer can be thrown at our enemy with great results

--This speaks to me of intercession...before the enemy can get to us or our kids the lance of prayer stops him in his tracks. Put on the armor...put it on everyday...pray all kinds of prayers...pray and intercede in the Spirit.

--Our prayers can be where we can't be...we can send the lance of prayer mixed with God's Word and it can accomplish God's will!!

Psalm 107:19-22 (NKJV)
¹⁹  Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses.
²⁰  He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.
²¹  Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
²²  Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And declare His works with rejoicing. 

--I remember many stories from our missionaries of how God sent His Word to them and rescued them just in time. A dear saint had been awakened by the Lord to pray for a missionary and his family.

--The Lord told her to pray until He released her.  She was sending power across the ocean to recue this family who was in great peril. At the exact time this lady arose to pray, hostile natives were surrounding their house. 

--Just at the moment that all looked hopeless…the natives saw something and ran away terrified. Later the natives started coming to Christ in large numbers…they experienced the power of God.

--The lady who prayed sent a letter to the missionary and his family inquiring of what might have been going on. They both discovered that at exactly the same time her prayer in the Spirit and the events were unfolding.

--Thru praying in the Spirit God’s power was sent to save this family…we all need to do spiritual warfare by praying in the Spirit every day and when Holy Spirit leads us!