How should we pray today? There is so much happening! How do we know what to pray for/against? How do we prioritize and maximize our prayer time? How much prayer should we engage in?
Pray for yourself:
What is important in prayer for me? The temptations today are overwhelming! We must stand strong for Jesus and against Satan. Pray that the Lord would strengthen you to withstand temptation and to stand firm in your convictions. Jesus warned us against deception (Matt. 24:4). When asked about the end times – our times? – His first comment was regarding deception. That should serve as a firm forewarning about the true enemy for end times – deception! Pray for the ability to discern the truth and to stand firm in it. Ask for guidance in your study of the Word, and then actually study it. We are making deception a very easy task for Satan when we are biblically illiterate and just trusting in others to tell us what the Word says! Maybe your pastor has studied more than you have and gone to school, etc., but we are told to test what we hear. Satan has infiltrated all areas of all societies, including the church! Study, and pray for enlightenment, so that you are not deceived! Pray for the discernment of the Spirit to know the truth and be set free by it.
Pray for the Church:
Across the globe Satan is very actively fighting all of what is valued by God and His saints. This includes persecution of the saints themselves! Persecution of Christians throughout the world is more rampant than ever! Even areas that were previously unaffected by persecution are starting to feel the scourge. Jesus said it would be this way! Matt 24-25 has many warnings that could absolutely be applied to this day and age. We are privileged to be His representatives of the Kingdom at a such a time as this! But we must be vigilant and prayerful.
Pray for the Gospel and Biblical values to be known throughout the world and for people to be free to study the Word. Pray that translations and interpretations of the Bible would be accurate and objective. There are many “bibles” today that are nothing more than the opinions, biases, and assumptions of the publishers. From this stay away! But, how do we know which ones are truly of God? Pray! Ask for the guidance and discernment that God provides to His followers. Study. Research objective discussions about the accuracy of different translations.
Pray for the church – all Christians – to be bold and zealous! Ephesians 6 tells us that God’s Word is our sword and our faith is our shield. We are to stand against the wiles of Satan and extinguish his fire darts. We are to put on the whole armor of God. This entails knowing the Word inside and out. What good is a weapon if you don’t know how to use it? The Word is truth and we are to be wrapped in truth, protected by righteousness, and prepared with knowledge and understanding of the Gospel for whatever fire darts we might encounter. But, never forget verse 18, in which we are reminded to pray and persevere, and help each other.
The church today seems to have forgotten Ephesians 6. What about Revelation 19:11-16? Verse 15 says that the Word is a sharp Sword with which Jesus will smite the nations. Putting it together we see that the Word is the sword with which we are to battle evil and, when Jesus returns, in all His power and glory, He will use the same Sword to smite those who refused to see the power of it! They won’t be able to deny the power then! But it is our sacred privilege and responsibility to save as many as we can from that fate. So, why does the church shrink from wielding the Sword? We are afraid to offend. We forget that Jesus said the Word would be offensive (Matt. 13:21), but we must have strong roots. We are afraid that if we offend someone by being too strong in our attack against evil then we will turn people away. But, in the parable of the sower, those that heard only enough of the Word to rejoice and not enough to understand that persecution and tribulation come with it, will be offended by it.
Pray for all Christians to have strong roots and to know the power of the Word! Use the Word as the Sword that smites evil and corruption! But, of course, we must do this with love (2 Tim. 2:24-26). We must not be accusing or judgmental and hateful in our wielding the Sword! This might seem like a paradox. How does one lovingly wield and Sword? Remember that the enemy if not the person but the deception the person is entrapped by. Imagine they have a bomb strapped to their body. Removing the bomb – the deception – by using powerful weapons to disarm it and make it powerless over them, will not destroy their trust and gratitude. Help them to know it was Jesus who had the power and wisdom to prevent their destruction and He loved them so much that He gave His own life to save theirs.
Pray for Society:
Deception is everywhere! Fake news, fake gospel, good is called evil and evil is called good, lack of conscience, moral depravity – these things are rampant in today’s world. Pray against it and for truth. Pray for the gospel of the Kingdom to be spread throughout the world!
But, perhaps Satan’s most deceptive tool is complacency. Perhaps the “political correctness” that has become so popular, even in the church, is Satan’s atomic bomb for the church and for society as a whole! Jesus was not politically correct! We also should not be! We are to be salt and light. What does salt do? It preserves, but it also heals. If salt if rubbed in a wound it burns! It helps to heal the wound, but the process is painful. Don’t be afraid to be salty! Complacency will not enlighten the world. Don’t assimilate into the ways of the world. That is not illuminating. That just allows us to be comfortable alongside the darkness. We are called to declare the Word – wield the Sword! – and rub salt in the deception, while shining light on the darkness.
Pray that you would not be deceived! Pray for the truth to prevail. Study the Word and take up your Sword for the battle!