Pray Through Spiritual Warfare

Prayer in the Spirit is simply the outflow of our relationship with God, a conversation that is rooted and grounded in his word. Paul identified the word of God as the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17), so prayer in the Spirit is prayer that flows from understanding his word. As we read the word, the Spirit moves us to pray. Praying in the Spirit is thus not some strange, mystical experience but rather praising, thanking, and asking God for things that are in line with the words of Scripture, which the Spirit himself inspired.

Lord Jesus, evil is such a harsh word, and yet Your Word uses it frequently to describe the opposite of good. While we are all capable of sin, ask Your protection against those who call good evil and evil good. Guard us against those who scheme against righteousness and from those who twist the truth into lies to accomplish their evil intents. May Your angels hover ever near to eradicate fear and fight against the dark, spiritual forces we cannot see. Help us cast down every imagination and thought that our enemy tries to use to exalt itself against You.

One of the things that constantly astonishes me is that God, who could with one blink of an eye or flick of a little finger, dispatch all of Satan and all of his hordes out of the world and out of the way — instead of doing that — employs human agents to do war with them and fight them in order to get victories. And all know to say about that is, in his inscrutable wisdom, more glory will come to him and more joy will come to you in participating in this triumph.

One of the things that constantly astonishes me is that God, who could with one blink of an eye or flick of a little finger, dispatch all of Satan and all of his hordes out of the world and out of the way — instead of doing that — employs human agents to do war with them and fight them in order to get victories. And all know to say about that is, in his inscrutable wisdom, more glory will come to him and more joy will come to you in participating in this triumph.

One of the things that constantly astonishes me is that God, who could with one blink of an eye or flick of a little finger, dispatch all of Satan and all of his hordes out of the world and out of the way — instead of doing that — employs human agents to do war with them and fight them in order to get victories. And all know to say about that is, in his inscrutable wisdom, more glory will come to him and more joy will come to you in participating in this triumph.

We found the Believer’s Warfare Prayer many years ago when our children were young, tucked near the back of a book on Christian Education. The prayer was written by Victor Matthews, an Emeritus Professor of Theology at Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary.

Every time life felt heavy, when we caught a glimpse of the spiritual battle around us, we would pull this prayer out, pray it out loud, sometimes every day for weeks, until the darkness retreated and the burden lightened. Heavenly Father, open your eyes that might see how great You are and how complete Your provision is for this day.Thankful that the victory the Lord Jesus Christ won for me on the Cross and in His Resurrection has been given to me and thatseated with the Lord Jesus Christ in the heavens. take in place with Him in the heavens and recognize by faith that all wicked spirits and Satan himself are under feet. declare, therefore, that Satan and his wicked spirits are subject to me in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.