DAY 20.
ENGAGE IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE
“…AND DO NOT LEAD US INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM THE EVIL ONE…”
The past two Saturdays, we’ve focused on spiritual warfare. We acknowledge that there is a real enemy of God and all that He wants to accomplish in our life with Him. Satans’s only strategy is to bring doubt and deceive, but we overcome when we trust and believe Jesus and His word.
You have actually been engaged in spiritual warfare everyday for the past 3 weeks. Yes, any time we pray and take ground in our relationship with God, it blows up the schemes of the enemy. You have made your prayer time with God a priority. You have made the blessing of your family and the people around you a priority. Where you had the option of of only focusing on yourself, your needs, your wants, you laid them before The Father and said “your kingdom come.” When you had the option of only praying for yourself, you intentionally turned outwards to pray for others. You have allowed God to correct you and lead you back to Him. You have released forgiveness, to those who have hurt you. Some of you have denied yourself to be closer to Jesus. You’ve given up food and social media to say Jesus I need you more. It sounds like you are a disciple fighting to follow Jesus.
Thats what it is: a fight. You have fought well for these 21 days. Keep going. You have gained ground in your prayer life and your walk with God. Keep taking ground. Don’t stop. The enemy doesn’t want you to keep going. You might be tempted to stop having a regular time of prayer and prioritizing you time with the Lord. This is where we pray with Jesus: “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Look, we know that we are sent as lights into a world of darkness. I’m sure you are aware of the darkness and pain in the lives of the people around you. Remember when you were in darkness? Take some time today and pray for the people you have been praying for all week. The enemy doesn’t want them to get free. Pray that God would open their eyes, deliver them from the evil one and lead them to life in Jesus. Pray that God would transform every aspect of their life, that they would receive the fullness of Jesus.
I want to read something that Jesus says about what He came to do:
‘and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”’
Luke 4:17-19 NIV
Jesus set us free. He brought us the good news that He has completely reconciled us to Him if we just trust him. He gave us sight. He gave us life. Some translations say “He has anointed me to bind up the broken hearted.” He has healed and is healing us. He has given us His Holy Spirit, and appointed us to proclaim His good news. He has sent us into our world, so that people would know that right now, the Lord’s favor is here to receive.
‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it….. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. ‘
John 1:1-5,9-13 NIV
PRAY THIS:
Father, I speak the name of Jesus over the people that are in my life. Shine your light in their life. The darkness cannot overcome your Light Jesus. I pray that you would break off the attack of the enemy on the lives around me. God bring your truth, free the people you love around me from bondage. Keep me free from bondage to sin in my own life. Make me a light that points people to you. Thank you Jesus for your victory over sin and death. Amen.