Warfare Prayer

Biblical Deliverance Ministries

Study 11

    I suppose the most specific prayer designed for warfare is the one that Jesus Himself taught us. We would be well advised to study it as a pattern for our own prayer time.

    Mathew ch6 v9 - 15

This then is how you should pray:

"Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name,

Your kingdom come,

Your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from the evil one."

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive you your sins.

   There are many different prayers recorded in both the Old and New Testament but here the Lord shows us very clearly how we should pray.

    1/ Give praise, honour and position to the Lord our God. Give our Holy God the position in our lives that He ought to have. It is good to acknowledge the position of the sovereign God as He really is rather than to think that He is some sort of mate at our own level.

    What position should we give God in our lives?

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    2/ Identify to whom we are bringing our praise and worship to. Often enough we don't realise that when we pray there are other beings which seek to distort and delay God's answers. Daniel prayed and fasted for 21 days whilst a battle went on in the heavenly realms before he received a vision sent by God. Do you usually identify who you are talking to when you pray or which father you want to answer? The Holy Father in Heaven or the father of lies as the scripture calls satan.

    How should we define who we are talking to when we start to pray?

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    3/ Invite the Lord God almighty to have His way in the earth and in particular in our own lives. As He has complete sovereign authority and obedience both expressed in love one toward another in heaven above so He should be given that in this realm as well. What a wonderful concept it would be to be in a position where God's thoughts and desires for us were instantly and completely obeyed.

    What should our response be to God's every instruction?

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    4/ Make our requests known unto God fully aware that He knows our needs and has promised to fulfil them. By asking, we are acknowledging our dependency and humbling ourselves before Him. So often we seem to assume that God is just there as a provider and we often become quite insistent, making demands rather than indicating our dependency by simply mentioning these things or people that He already knows about anyway. A good idea is to make no demands and put no restrictions on our God therein allowing Him free reign to bless us or others as He sees fit. By discussing these needs with God we become prayer partners with Him.

    How should we make our requests known unto God?

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    5/ Confess in deep sincerity any deeds, criticism or thoughts we may have had against others and ask the almighty God's forgiveness.

    Confess our feelings, attitudes and actions toward others and forgive them before God for any deeds, hurts or even abuse which they may have committed against us, either knowingly or unknowingly. If we look at the explanation of this portion in v14-15 we see that if we forgive men when they sin against us our heavenly Father will also forgive us. But if we do not forgive men their sins our Father will not forgive our sins. This is a radical statement and should be accepted in the light of confession and expected cleansing. This principle has got nothing to do with salvation, nor does it take away from the wonderful grace of God. This has to do with the ongoing work of the cross, the continuing salvation of each and every one of us as we yield more and more of our hurts and innermost wounds so that in accordance with Isaiah ch53 v5 The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.

    What is the key to the release of peace in our lives through the acceptance and forgiveness of God?

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    6/ At first glance this could be misread that God could at some time or other lead us into temptation but don't be misled .Our God's desire is to lead us away from temptation. Unfortunately we of our own accord walk into a position where we can be tempted and I suggest that our prayer to the Lord our God is to help us to be wise enough to stay away from situations which generate opportunities to sin. Don't let our will over ride the leading of the Holy Spirit. Don't be so busy that we don't even have time to listen. Protect us from the possibility of sin. Help us to live a holy life becoming a vessel of honour fit for the Master's use.

    How can we become a vessel of honour?

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    7/ There is no doubt that the evil one has designs on all mankind: (a) To ensure that any of us who are not true Christians don't become christians.

    (b) To ensure that Christians are ineffective for God and the expansion of His Kingdom. There are many ways that he attempts to do this, some of which are discussed in our study on the strategy of satan; suffice to say that he is the father of lies, the author of confusion and devious in all his ways. It is imperative that we daily put on the armour of God. It is often of necessity that we must walk amongst the things of this world but yet not of it. We must invite our God to protect us from physical, mental and spiritual attack so that our work for Him is not impaired. Our desire ought to be that everything we do and everything we think would bring glory to the Lord God Almighty our Holy God.

    What should we do to apply God's protection to ourselves?

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    There are many other prayers in the scriptures but here is a prayer of prime importance. This prayer is from the Master Himself and should have great importance for us. Let us not take it too lightly but use it as a constant pattern to guide us continually in the daily battle for our God and Master. Let us never forget that Christ died on the cross and rose again in triumph over satan and his underlings. The sting of death has gone and we battle from victory not for victory.

May we praise and worship the Lord God Almighty

the Holy God who reigns in Heaven.