For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Sometimes as believers, we look at situations with worldly eyes and great discouragement, throwing up our hands and saying, “It’s hopeless! Nothing is ever going to change. There is nothing I can do.” Or, maybe we say, “All I can do is pray” – as if prayer to our God is ineffective and as if our Lord is impotent and powerless.
Thankfully, that is NOT at all true!
Sometimes, I think we don’t realize all the power that we have in Christ and, even more importantly, all the power that He has in the universe.
- Our God is omnipotent. He controls every galaxy and every atom in the universe. (Rev. 19:6)
- He is omnipresent – there is nothing He doesn’t see. He is everywhere. (Psalm 139)
- He is sovereign. That means, although He gives each of us humans free will, His purposes cannot and will not be thwarted and no one can stop His plans from coming into fruition. Even people’s sin and rebellion against Him – He is able to use ultimately for His gloveRery and for the good of those who love, trust, and obey Him. Even Satan and his demons can do nothing apart from the permissive will of God. They must ask God’s permission before they can touch us or anyone else. Everything that happens to us has been filtered through the loving, sovereign hands of our God to accomplish His purposes in our lives. (Genesis 37-42, story of Joseph; the slavery and exodus of Israel; Job; Jesus’ crucifixion; every book of the Bible describes God’s sovereignty over the affairs of men)
- He is not limited by time or space – He does not think in terms of time. He is eternal. He has always existed and He will always exist. Our perspective is very limited, but His is not. (Gen. 21:33)
- He alone is good – He cannot think evil thoughts toward us or toward anyone. All of His thoughts are good, right, just, holy, loving, and true. (Psalm 34:8, Mark 10:18)
- He does not allow evil to go unpunished. He is the holy Judge. All people will stand before Him when this life is over and He will judge rightly. (2 Cor. 5:10, Rom. 14:10, Rev. 20:12)
If we put our eyes on the world, on our situation, on our circumstances, on people, or on ourselves – we will be discouraged. But if we keep our eyes on Christ Jesus, study the character of God, trust Him, hope in Him, worship Him, and seek Him with all that we are – we cannot help but see that He is infinitely more powerful than any storm, problem, giant, circumstance, obstacle, or issue. Our fears quickly melt away. We are not in the battle without Him. We are not forsaken. We are not helpless. We are not powerless. He has given us His Spirit, His Word that is sharper than any two-edged sword, His Truth, His presence, and Himself! And He has already won the war! We are victors in Christ! We are more than conquerors! (Romans 8)
If we are in Christ, our old sinful selves died to this world and to sin and were buried with Him and then we were raised to new life with Him when He was resurrected. All that happened to Jesus, God counts as happening to us because were “in Christ” when He lived, died, was buried, and was resurrected – if we are believers. We are no longer slaves to sin the way we used to be (Romans 6). We have the choice now to be “slaves to righteousness.” (This week, please read Romans 6-8 and Galatians 5 if you have not read them lately in order to discover your identity in Christ. “The Normal Christian Life” by Watchman Nee explains how to live out the great theological truths of these passages in Romans in very tangible ways.)
- The world defines freedom as – the ability to do whatever you want to do.
- God defines freedom as – the power to do the will of God and walk in obedience to Him
When we belong to Christ, all that we have is His, and all that He has is ours.
We are not paupers. We are not doomed to remain in bondage to sin. We don’t have to stay in the dungeon anymore. In Christ we are set free from the power of sin and death!!!!! That is not theory. That is fact! We are sons and daughters of the Most High God. We have access to the very throne room of heaven and we have the privilege of crying out to Him as beloved children. We have the power of the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in us richly – unless we suppress or grieve His Spirit – but then we can repent and return to Him and allow His Spirit to blast full speed into our lives. We have the ear of God. We have confidence to approach Him boldly and to ask for the help we need as we abide in Christ and His Word and Spirit abide in us and as we seek to walk in total submission and obedience to Him. We don’t get to dictate to God what He must do, as if He submits to us. But we can reverently, humbly approach God, coming into agreement with Him about His will and pray according to Scripture and His will for the needs and people around us, opening up the flood gates of heaven to pour the power of God into the lives of those for whom we pray. When we ask for His wisdom in faith, He grants it to us (James 1:5).
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16
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 I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
Jesus has not left us as orphans. We are not alone in this world without power, without weapons, without hope.
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16b
PRAYING FOR THOSE ENSNARED BY PORNOGRAPHY ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ISSUE
Lord,
We thank You and praise You for all that You are and all that You have done for us, are doing for us, and will do for us. You have not abandoned us. You have promised never to leave or forsake us. You love us like a Father loves His precious children. You grant us access to Yourself – the Creator and Ruler of the universe! What a privilege prayer is! What a blessing! What an honor and a gift. How I pray we might savor prayer and how I pray that we might greatly desire You far above anything else in this world. Let prayer be our greatest delight. Let us long for Your presence with fervent hunger for You. You are our only true need. You are the Greatest Treasure. You are our Pearl of Greatest Price. Only let us have You, Lord. You are more than enough. Let us be willing to forsake everything in order to have You, to know You, to love You, to worship, obey, and serve You wholeheartedly!
So many dear loved ones are consumed by sin today, Lord. So many are living as if there is no hope in You. There are strongholds of addictions in the lives of some of our husbands, brothers, fathers, sisters, daughters, sons, friends and for some of us, as well. Today we specifically bring before You all those who are impacted by pornography. They are imprisoned. These strongholds of sin and addiction have these precious men, women, and teenagers ensnared. It is the plan of the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy. That is exactly what pornography does. It steals the joy, peace and treasures that Jesus has given to us. It kills relationships. It destroys individuals, marriages, and families. But You, Jesus, have come that we might have life, and have it to the full! PRAISE GOD!!!!!! We come before You with spiritual weapons of warfare – not with the world’s weapons. And we ask that You might demolish the stronghold that lust and pornography have in the lives of our loved ones and in the lives of many in the church and in the world. We pray that You might strike down every argument and pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, including the stronghold and power of pornography.
We pray that You might destroy the porn and sex industries by Your power. We pray that you might destroy the spiritual forces that fuel these industry. We pray for an army of believers to pray against these weapons of the enemy. We pray that You might stop the funding for these industries. We pray that You might open the eyes of those who are involved in the porn and sex industries to Yourself, that they might find Your great salvation and be saved from this life of emptiness, shame, degradation, slavery (to sin, but also actual slavery for some), sin, and hopelessness. Thank You that every person on this planet is precious to You. We pray that You might reveal to those who use porn and to those involved in the porn and sex industries that these are people, made in the image of God, that they are not to be used and discarded like trash. Help us all to see the dignity, worth, and value of every human being made in Your image. Set up governments against the porn industry and set up Your spiritual forces against it to tear it down, Lord! Let us hate what You hate. Let us love what You love.
This sin is destroying millions of people and millions of families and children. It is distorting what You created to be good, holy, pure and right – sex in marriage – and making it into something detestable and destructive. Cleanse Your people! Open the eyes of anyone who is involved in porn or the sex industry to the fact that it offends and displeases Your holiness. Let them be convicted by the power of Your Holy Spirit and let them repent and turn fully to Christ to be cleansed, saved from sin, and made right with God through the power of the blood of Jesus. Let them see Your incredible love for them, and the unfathomable lengths You went to in order to seek and save every one of them who is lost. By the power of Your Spirit, let them become holy as You are holy and let them live godly, pure lives that bring great glory to Yourself! Show Your people how to reach those who are ensnared by porn and how to reach those who are involved in these industries – that You might be greatly glorified! Restore individuals to Yourself. Restore marriages. Restore families. Let sex be sacred and holy and treated with great honor among Your people. Let us live holy lives that please You greatly. Let us set godly examples for our children and the following generations. Let there be a massive movement of Your Spirit’s power in our midst! Let there be a new Great Awakening! Let THIS generation rise, by Your power, to become a godly generation, holy and set apart for Your use alone.
We thank and praise You that You have power over all sin and that You give those who belong to You power and victory over all sin. Thank you that no one is beyond Your reach. Thank You that no sin is too great for the blood of Christ to cover it. Use us to reach out to others and to lovingly, joyfully proclaim Your GOOD NEWS! Set many free and bring them to Yourself, that they might know You and have eternal life in You, and that they might have abundant life here, as well. Thank You for all of the lives You are going to change and all of the people who will soon be released from their dark dungeons into Your glorious freedom, mercy, light, truth, and love!!!!
In the Name, power and will of Christ,
Amen!
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:55-58
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