Building involves Fighting: Build the Church as the City of God with Fighting Prayers

Building involves fighting: we build up the church as the city of God by fighting the spiritual warfare in the Body one with Christ as the Head.

Building up the church as the city of God is not an easy task, for the building can be carried out only by fighting, and if we want to build up the church, we need to pray fighting prayers.

This is seen in type in the book of Nehemiah where the people were building the wall of the city and each had a building tool in one hand and a weapon in another hand.

The enemies were all around them, trying to discourage and dishearten them, so they had to be ready both to build and fight.

On one hand, they were building the wall, and they had a heart to build.

On the other hand, they were ready to fight, and once the trumpet was sounded, they all gathered to fight against the enemy.

The enemy plotted and conspired to attack them, and they had schemes and plans to dishearten and discourage the working ones so that they may stop the work. Oh, Lord Jesus!

Nehemiah is a very good pattern to us as one who was one with the Lord to carry out the building work of the wall. He brought all these matters to the Lord.

Everything that the enemies did and planned, he brought it to the Lord in prayer. Everything that the people did and said, he also brought to the Lord in prayer.

He opened his heart to God and he poured out his heart to God, bringing all things to His knowledge by his prayer.

At the same time, he took the lead to work, applying himself to the building work.

In the church life we need to realize that, if we want to build the church as the house of God and as the city of God, spiritual warfare is necessary.

The enemy fights every step of the way when we want to build the church as the city of God.

He knows that, once the city is built, there will be the kingdom of God on earth, and the enemy is defeated.

So he is persecuting us, mocking us, and plotting to dishearten and discourage us from doing the work of building.

And many times, unfortunately, he has a way to cause the building work to stop.

There are believers who have started well and have given themselves to the Lord for His building, but because of the enemy’s attacks and schemes, they stopped building. Oh, Lord Jesus!

May the Lord have a way to strengthen and encourage all the disheartened and discouraged believers that they would rise up, bring up the materials, and build the house of God and the city of God.

And may we ourselves be those who apply ourselves to the building work, being ready both to build and to fight so that the church as the city of God may be built and the Lord would have a kingdom on the earth.

Building involves Fighting: to Build the Church as the City of God, Intense Warfare is Required

We need to realize that, both according to our experience and according to Neh. 4, building the church as the city of God is not something easy but something that can be carried out by fighting.

Building involves fighting. The building can only be carried out by fighting.

What we need in the church life is not just some activities that are well-organized, meetings that are going very smoothly, and saints who are pursuing the Lord both personally and corporately.

What we need is an army to be built, a group of saints who both build and fight the spiritual battle (Eph. 2:21-22; 4:16; 6:10-20).

Our meetings, our fellowship, our coordination, and everything related to the church life is a battle; there is a battle raging for the building up of the church as the city of God.

We should not, however, be foolish in fighting the battle; rather, we need to first have the awareness of this spiritual warfare, and then rise up to be built up with the saints and fight the battle to build the church as the city of God.

When the children of Israel returned from their captivity, Ezra, Nehemiah, and others rose up to rebuild the temple and the holy city, and this required and involved intense warfare.

Building involves fighting. The warfare was intense. We should not be afraid of this.

We require training for battle, but praise the Lord, we have the Lord’s resurrection life in us, and we can overcome.

We are not fighting individually but corporately; we do not fight as individual believers but as the corporate Body of Christ.

The Israelites who worked in the building work with Nehemiah laboured with one hand to build and with the other hand, they held their weapons for fighting the battle (Neh. 4:17).

On one hand, they built, and on the other, they were ready to fight.

Whenever we labour in God’s building, we will certainly be involved in a battle, because building involves fighting.

These two, building and fighting, are inseparable; however, we should not be driven by fear.

Rather, we should be encouraged, the Lord Jesus is the builder of the house of God, the church (Matt. 16:18), and we should simply fight the battle in the Lord and in the Body.

He builds His church, and though the enemy attacks and the gates of Hades are present, the enemy will not prevail.

The enemy with his death attacks is present, but he will not prevail against the builded church.

What prevents the enemy’s attack on the church that is builded up? It is the fact that the church is built by and with the resurrection life of Christ.

The life that we believers in Christ have is not just the human life but resurrection life, the life that overcomes death and comes out of death in resurrection.

We should not be afraid or dismayed; we should believe in the Lord as the living One who has the keys of death and Hades!

He is the One who died and now lives again, for He walked out of death with the keys of death and Hades in His hand.

And the more we enjoy Him and are constituted with Him, the more we overcome the enemy.

We need to realize that there’s intense warfare going on for the church as the city of God to be built up, and we simply need to trust in the Lord and live by His life, for His resurrection life in us overcomes the enemy.

Regarding the building up of God’s dwelling place, there is a real conflict, a severe fighting between God and His enemy (Neh. 4:1-3, 7-8).

The enemy hates seeing the building of God’s dwelling place going up in a good way. He hates this and he fears this.

So he is motivated by hate in doing all kinds of things.

But we stand in the victory of Christ, and we testify that Christ has already won the victory.

Though Satan does everything in his power to interrupt, interfere, attack, and destroy, we stand in the resurrection life of Christ and, based on the victory of Christ, we overcome the enemy (Matt. 16:18-19)!

We do not fight with flesh and blood, neither do we struggle with men or with situations; we fight against the enemy, being involved in the work of building and fighting, and we know that the enemy will not prevail! Amen!

Though the building involves fighting, the Lord is the overcoming One, the Victor, in our spirit!

Sometimes in our meetings, there are interruptions; there is a powerful prayer meeting taking place, and there’s an interference.

But praise the Lord, some who are in that meeting and sense the gates of Hades attacking, do not judge the person through whom the attack came, but inwardly and sometimes outwardly, they pray to fight and deal with the enemy’s attack.

Building requires fighting, and our fighting is for the building up of the church as the city of God.

Lord Jesus, cause us to see and realize that the building up of the church as the city of God requires fighting. We do not want to be ignorant of the enemy’s schemes to attack the church and those who build up the church. Oh Lord, we praise You, You have won the victory. You are the victorious One, and You live in us! Hallelujah, Christ is victor! We stand in Your victory. We want to live and do all things by Your resurrection life so that the building work may continue. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to do the building work of the church as the city of God, and we stand one with You and one with the saints to fight the spiritual battle for God’s building. We fight the battle in the Body and in the power of Christ’s resurrection! Praise the Lord, the gates of Hades will not prevail against the builded church!

Build the Church and Fight the Battle by praying Fighting Prayers for God to have the Kingdom

We must build the church as the temple of God and fight the battle so that God may have the kingdom (Matt. 6:10).

When we see that the enemy attacks the church, when we realize that there’s a spiritual battle for the church as the city of God to be built up, we need to have fighting prayer.

As Nehemiah did, we need to bring everything to the Lord in prayer.

When people around us say that what we’re doing is of no significance, we need to bring this word before the Lord and tell Him about it.

If others try to harm us with some scheme, plotting to damage the building work, we need to bring these schemes and plots to the Lord.

If the brothers and sisters in the church life are suspicious of each other and if they are jealous of each other, we also need to bring this before the Lord.

If we sense that we are weak in ourselves and the enemy is attacking incessantly, we need to bring this to the Lord.

We must reject these things and deal with them by our fighting prayer, by our bringing all things to the Lord in prayer.

We need to realize that building involves fighting, and we need to bring all these things to the Lord in prayer.

We must build the church as the temple of God and fight the battle so that God may gain His kingdom on earth, the church as the city of God.

When the saints migrate for the spreading of the church life, they are an army fighting the battle (see Acts 8:4-12).

There’s intense fighting going on whenever some saints are in oneness and migrate to spread the Lord’s testimony.

Those who build the church today must build and fight at the same time (Neh. 4:14, 16-21).

Without spiritual warfare and without a spirit of fighting, there’s no building; building the church as the city of God calls for gruelling warfare.

If we read the story of Nehemiah we realize how the enemies tried and tried and tried again to destroy the building and discourage those who did the work.

The enemy tried from without and from within.

They plotted and conspired, tried to bring Nehemiah out to them to talk, and sowed seeds of discouragement among the people.

It is a gruelling warfare for the church as the city of God to be built up. It is an extremely intense warfare.

But there is also grace, there is the power of resurrection life, and there’s the realization that the Lord is with us and He will not allow the enemy to go beyond a certain limit.

The Lord knows that we are human beings with a body of sin and death, a weak earthen vessel.

He knows that the enemy attacks us again and again, and that we’re both building and fighting so that He may gain the church as the city of God.

Sometimes we may pause and retreat into the Lord; this is not cowardice, but we need some time of rest and enjoyment with the Lord.

And thank the Lord, we have some experienced brothers and sisters who shepherd us, train us, equip us for the battle, and also help us rest in the Lord when rest is needed.

We don’t need some tough brothers to say, I don’t retreat from anything: I will fight until I die!

Rather, we need to build and fight, fight and build, and be built together in the church as the city of God; and when we need to rest in the Lord, we simply need to rest.

Realizing that building involves fighting, we need to stand one with the Lord and with the Body, fighting the battle in the Body.

May all the brothers and sisters exercise their functions for the building up of the church.

May all the responsible brothers and co-workers not replace the saints but rather, perfect them to serve together with them.

May all those who have a ministry exercise their function for the building up of the church.

And may all the saints build and fight, holding weapons and building the church by their fighting prayers while doing the building work together.

May the Lord gain the built-up church as the city of God today so that He may have a kingdom on earth!

Lord Jesus, we want to build up the church as the city of God and fight for the Lord’s interest so that His kingdom would come. Grant us to have a spirit of fighting in the church life so that we may build up the church. May we stand one with the Lord in the church life today and one with the saints so that we may fight the battle in the Body by the power of the Lord! Amen, Lord Jesus, may all the saints exercise their functions to build and fight for the building of the church! May all the saints do the work of building and fighting the spiritual warfare through their fighting prayers! Amen, Lord, make us those who hold a building tool in one hand and a weapon in the other. Gain a glorious church that is being built up in the localities all over the earth. Gain Your kingdom. Strengthen all the saints to fight and build!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by Ron Kangas in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1958, vol. 2, “The Building Work of God,” pp. 371-374, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther (2022 winter training), week 9, entitled, Building and Fighting – the Need to Engage in Spiritual Warfare for the Building of the Church.
• Further reading on this topic:
  – The building of the church requiring spiritual warfare, a portion from, The Building Work of God, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
  – Fight the battle in the Body, hymn by W. L. – listen to it via youtube (here and here), Soundcloud, and spotify; the official hymn is here.
  – Spiritual warfare being a corporate matter, a portion from, Basic Principles for the Practice of the Church Life, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee.
  – The spiritual warfare and protection of the Body with Christ as the whole armor of God, article in Affirmation and Critique by Ed Marks.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Fight the battle in the Body! / By the virtue of the Head; / Standing firmly with the Body, / Into vict’ry you’ll be led. / For the Body is God’s armor, / Not for anyone alone; / When you wrestle in the Body, / All its benefits you own. (Hymns #885 stanza 2 and chorus)
  – By the blood of Christ the Victor / Overcome the enemy: / By its virtue and its power / You will win the victory. / By the blood of Christ the Victor / Counter him who doth accuse; / By the blood for you defending / All the sland’rer’s blame refuse. (Hymns #889 stanza 2 and chorus)
  – Charge, soldiers, charge in battle! / Thou art the royal heir; / The Lord from dust did choose thee, / That thou His kingdom share. / Thou hast no part in darkness, / Thy future, O how bright; / With Christ to dwell forever / And in His love delight. (Hymns #873 stanza 5)