Being the Overcomers who Fight the Spiritual Warfare to Hasten the Lord’s Coming

Our Christian life and church life today toward the end of this age is in the middle of a spiritual warfare. We need to be watchful and on the alert to know what the enemy is doing and what’s he up to, and bind him, limit his activities, and inflict loss on his kingdom.

The way to bind the enemy and limit him in his evil activities on earth is through prayer – much prayer, weighty prayer, personal and corporate prayer.

We need to go to the Lord and ask Him to give us a burden to pray both personally and corporately, so that He may gain the prayers that He needs to defeat His enemy and put him to shame.

Brother Lee at one point felt that the enemy raised up some counter-prayers, some prayers that are against the Lord’s recovery, the Lord’s move, and the Lord’s speaking.

Just as in Daniel, when he set aside to pray in Daniel 10, it took 21 days of prayer to defeat the prince of Persia who withstood the angelic army – today Satan has some whom he uses to pray against God’s move, against the Lord’s recovery, and against the producing of the overcomers.

We need to realize that in God’s work and in God’s move things don’t come cheaply: we don’t see the vision at no cost, and the saints don’t just “start praying” after hearing about it.

There’s a great cost involved, there’s a fierce battle going on behind the scenes, and the Lord needs much prayer from many saints corporately who stand with Him and fight with Him for His interests and His move on the earth!

Lord, burden us to pray! Make us those who see the spiritual warfare, count the cost, and pray one with You to bind Your enemy, inflict a loss to his kingdom, and cause him to lose ground in people and situations! Lord, we desire the hastening of Your return! Gain those who pray for this!

Building Up the Church is a Spiritual Warfare

In both Nehemiah and Ezra we see clearly that as soon as the people of Israel returned to Jerusalem and started to build the walls of the city, there’s great opposition.

Satan hates the building up of the Body of Christ because he knows that when the Body is built up, he will be defeated by Christ under the feet of the Body of Christ!

The book of Acts shows that our working together with God to build up the church is a spiritual warfare and that prayer is the secret to accomplish God’s work (4:24-31; Psa. 2:1-2; Eph. 6:10-20).

In Acts we see that our working together with God to build up the church is a spiritual warfare (Acts 4:24-31). The secret to accomplish God’s work is prayer – when the apostles pray, whether there’s persecutions or imprisonments or beatings, the Lord has a way to move and increase His kingdom.

In Eph. 6:10-20 Paul encourages us to put on the whole armor of God as the Body of Christ, and we do this corporately through prayer. In every step of the building up of the Body, whether it is the preaching of the gospel, the shepherding of the new ones, the perfecting of the saints, or the prophesying to build up the Body directly, we need to fight and be watchful.

We need to fight in prayer for the saints, and we need to take possession of every inch through prayer. Don’t listen to the lies from the authorities of darkness; rather, offer prayers to God in steadfast faith for His ultimate move on earth today!

We need to get together in small groups and pray: much and thorough prayer, short and living prayer, learning to “pass the ball” around by praying short and following the one praying before us. Our prayer life and prayer style needs to be updated, revolutionized, and improved, brought to a higher level!

The Lord’s Recovery is to Produce a Dispensational Instrument

Watchman Nee in his first public conference in China in 1928 spoke on, The Overcomers. He saw clearly then that the age is coming to a close, and there’s a great need for the saints to rise up and cooperate with God for the throwing down of Satan’s kingdom and the bringing in of God’s kingdom.

The ministry of the age in the Lord’s recovery is for this, for the producing of a dispensational instrument that would cause Satan to suffer loss and will bring in the age of the kingdom.

God’s eyes are on the kingdom, and we need to fight one with Him in prayer for the oppressing and opposing of Satan, to bring in the disintegration of the house of Satan. Spiritual warfare is not a term but a reality – we are living at the very end of the age, and God wants to rise up a corporate testimony that will be instrumental to the end of this age.

We have to stand up to testify to the victory of the cross of Christ, the gospel of the defeat of Satan and the destruction of Hades. When you enter into the real prayer like this you enter into the real warfare.

We need to work together with God through prayer to bring this age to a close. God desires to expatriate Satan and bring in the Son of God with His kingdom, and we as His people on earth need to pray for this!

We are not here in the Lord’s recovery as “another movement”, “an organization”, or “a better denomination” – movements, organizations, and denominations come and go. We believe we are in the present move of God, and this doesn’t guarantee that we will always be in God’s move, but we want to be in His move today and we want to continue to be in God’s move until He comes back!

God can use us or put us aside, depending on how we cooperate with Him through prayer.

The Overcomers and God’s Dispensational Move

The last chapter of brother Nee’s, The Prayer Ministry of the Church, is a crucial speaking concerning God’s dispensational move. Before God could end this age He needs a dispensational instrument, a corporate group of overcomers who stand one with Him for His desire on the earth.

Our prayer needs to be brought up to a higher level – not merely praying for our needs, the needs of others, or the needs of the church, but praying with the view of the Lord’s coming.

Our preaching of the gospel, our practicing the church life, and our meeting with believers is for this: the furtherance of the kingdom of God and the inflicting loss on Satan’s kingdom, so that the Lord Jesus would return soon!

For this, God needs to gain a dispensational instrument, an army to fight for His interest on the earth, “Gideon’s 300“, a small number who are absolute for Him and serious with Him for His return.

We need to see the seriousness and the intensity of the situation in which we live today, and we need to consider before the Lord, What are we doing to bring this age to a close and to bring in the next age?

We live in a special time today, so there’s the need for special Christians to do a special work. We live in the most privileged time, a time in which we can do the most for God, and today we need to rise up and pray the prayer that will turn this age and fight the spiritual warfare!

Lord, make us those who meet Your need today. Cause us to really see Your desire to return, and Your need to end this age. Lord, we want to be one with You in prayer and utter the prayers that will cause Your enemy to suffer loss. Lord, may Your kingdom come on earth today. May Satan’s kingdom suffer loss and may this evil one be oppressed and opposed in prayer. Raise up Your army, Lord, Your dispensational instrument, from all corners of the earth. Cover us with Your precious blood, and hide us in Your Body. Lord, keep us in the Body, on the ground of oneness, fighting together with the saints against Your enemy that we may hasten Your return!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from brother Andrew Yu’s speaking in this message and portions in, The Vision and Definite Steps for the Practice of the New Way (chs. 13-14), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on Prayer and the Lord’s Move, week 6 (entitled, A Praying Church in the Unique Stream of the Work of God).
• Further Reading: Watchman Nee, The Prayer Ministry of the Church, last chapter (entitled, The Overcomers and God’s Dispensational Move).
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Faith orders thee “Remove from here, / And be thou cast into the sea!” / We should, we must, we can, we will, / Fulfill God’s purpose faithfully.
  # Conflict today is fierce, / The strength of Satan more; / The cry of battle calling now / Is louder than before.
  # Fight, saints, for Jesus our Lord! / Take in His life, stand in one accord! / Never fear God’s enemy; / Tread on his head triumphantly! Pray that the daily church life be strong, / That all the saints in spirit press on, / Fighting as the one new man, / Fulfilling our Lord’s great plan!
  # I dare not be defeated, / When Jesus leads me on / To press through hellish regions / To share with Him His Throne.
• Pictures source: with permission via, Inspiration Unlimited (Prayer and the Lord’s Move set).