Jesus Christ became incarnate in order to save lost souls. He alone was qualified to atone for our sins. Adam’s sinful disobedience in the Garden of Eden would cause the virus of sin in every one of his human offspring. But in John’s Gospel, chapter 3, verses 16-19 we read of God’s merciful plan of salvation: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
After Jesus had suffered and died for our sins on the cross and had been resurrected, He spent 40 more days on earth proving that He had finished His earthly mission of preparing for the salvation of anyone who would believe in Him. When He was ready to ascend back into heaven, he met with 500 people who had already believed in Him. His final instruction to them was a serious command: GO BACK INTO THE CITY OF JERUSALEM AND PRAY FOR THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT UPON Y0U FOR THE POWER TO SPREAD HIS GOSPEL TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, BEGINNING IN JERUSALEM (Acts 1:2-8).
Jesus was Himself a Man of prayer. As the Son of God, having become the Son of Man, He felt the need of prayer. As God, He answers prayer; as Man, He prayed. While on earth He found places to pray—in homes, synagogues, mountain tops, and open fields. As an example for His disciples, He was devoted to His Heavenly Father and expressed His love and worship for Him in prayer. He often prayed alone, but He also often prayed with His disciples. Once, when they heard Jesus praying and realized that He always got answers to His prayers, they cried out, “Lord, teach us to pray... “(Luke 11:1)
Jesus taught them to pray, but He assured them that His promise to send the Holy Spirit upon them for power to live the Christian life would be answered as they prayed. And, we read in Acts chapters 1 and 2 how those disciples finally got around to obeying that call to prayer. In Acts 2:4, we have the account of the 120 believers who obeyed and prayed for 10 days: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit...”
After that Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit on believers, the early church learned to pray in power. As we read throughout the book of Acts, we learn how the power of prayer spread the Gospel with such power that hundreds of thousands were drawn to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
Knowing that Satan would seek to defeat His followers by seeking to keep them from prayer, Jesus not only taught them to pray, but He also inspired His apostles to urge Christians to “pray without ceasing.” (I Thessalonians 5:17) Satan fears the prayers of Christian believers more than anything else in the church’s warfare against evil. He seeks to prevent prayer because it is the most powerful weapon the Christian has in spiritual warfare. The apostle Paul was inspired to write in Ephesians 6:10-13 how to prepare for this invisible warfare: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
The church has been at warfare for many centuries. God continues to call His church to be prepared for even more serious warfare in the last days. Satan has from the beginning of the Church Age sought to prevent lost souls from hearing the Gospel. In II Corinthians 4:3-5 we read: “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.”
The spiritual conflict of the ages grows more violent as civilization moves closer to the end of the Church Age. Behind the horrible signs of our times there rages this invisible war. The sweeping changes spiritually, politically, morally, socially, and economically are but symptoms of what Alexander Solzhenitsyn called “a fight of cosmic proportions.” And then Solzhenitsyn went on to add, “the forces of evil are already believing they are nearing their final offensive.”
Prayer is our most powerful weapon against the bold evil conditions of our times. But the kind of praying that will win the war we are fighting will have to be anointed, inspired, and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, as we read in Ephesians 6:17-18: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints...”
In closing this message, I want to share what I have personally learned in my last 35 years of praying in the power of the Holy Spirit: (1) The Holy Spirit ENLIGHTENS OUR MINDS for understanding how to pray the will of God, (2) The Holy Spirit EMPOWERS OUR WILL TO FAST AND PRAY without fainting, and (3) The Holy Spirit EMBOLDENS OUR FAITH TO BELIEVE that we will receive what we are praying for!
Believe me, brothers and sisters in Christ, God is calling out more and more believers to take seriously the lateness of the hour. He wants us to ask for fresh fillings of the Holy Spirit to prepare His church and the world for the greatest spiritual awakening in the history of His church! When we pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, we are not shadow boxing; we are putting to flight the demonic forces of evil that are invading our nation and robbing believers of their faith. God is blowing reveille for a mighty invasion against the evil forces of our day that seek to destroy our nation. God is calling His Spirit-anointed prayer warriors to plead for His opening of the heavens on our nation with conviction of sin that will bring repentance and faith for a glorious spiritual awakening! This is God’s plan for preparing our nation and the whole world for the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This writer’s prayer is: PLEASE, HOLY SPIRIT, GIVE MILLIONS OF YOUR BELIEVERS HERE IN AMERICA AN EAR TO HEAR YOUR CALL TO GET A FRESH FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND TO DEVOTE THEMSELVES TO YOUR PLAN TO SAVE OUR NATION AND TOUCH THE WORLD WITH THE GOSPEL BEFORE THE END COMES!
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