Because Satan opposes God and His kingdom, the church needs to utter prayers of warfare in order to bring in God’s kingdom and drive out God’s enemy.
God needs the prayer of His people on earth, the church, for Him to accomplish what He wants to accomplish.
God has a great will, which is to have a corporate expression on earth, and the church is God’s expression; however, for God to have an expression, He needs a group on earth to deal with His enemy, for His expression actually involves the bringing in of the kingdom of God on earth.
It is quite amazing to realise that our omnipotent God, the One who didn’t need our help (or opinion) when He created the heavens and the earth, is limited in what He can do on earth today.
How come God is limited? In the principle of incarnation, God will not force man to do something unless man agrees with God. God is omnipotent, but He has imposed a limitation on Himself; He will do something only when His people cooperate with Him in prayer. When His people pray God’s will back to God, God will come in and do what He wants to do.
But if His people do not pray, God is hindered and limited in what He can do. How much God can do is determined to a great extent by the level of our praying.
If we see that the enemy opposes the coming of God’s kingdom on earth, and we pray prayers of warfare, we will be the church standing on earth one with God, and He can release His will on earth.
God is ready and willing to do something great; He is willing to save many people, He desires to open many nations for the gospel, and He wants to pour out salvation and blessing. But do we cooperate with Him by praying prayers of the kingdom, prayers of warfare, prayers that match Him in what He wants to do today?
Oh, may we be those who spend much time with the Lord, are infused with His desire in His word, and remain in the fellowship of the Body, so that we may have His feeling as our feeling, His thought as our thought, and His desire and opinion as our desire and opinion.
When we abide in the Lord and when His words abide in us, we will ask whatever we will, and He will do it for us. When we are one with the Lord by abiding in Him, we will ask what He desires, and He will carry out what is in His heart.
The church must be the outlet of heaven, allowing heaven’s authority to be expressed on earth. Amen, Lord!
The Church needs to Utter Prayers of Warfare to Bring in God’s Kingdom and to Drive out God’s Enemy
There’s a particular kind of prayer that the church needs to utter, and that is the prayer of warfare. In any given prayer meeting, there may be a lot of prayer going on, but prayer is on different levels.
We may be praying for the young people, the new ones, or a conference, but when the Spirit brings us to the level of warfare, there has to be full order and coordination in the meeting.
Some brothers may take the lead to pray, and the army follows; we don’t compose individual prayers, but we pray prayers of warfare, to grant the Lord our highest cooperation. The church needs to utter prayers of warfare in order to bring in God’s kingdom and driver out God’s enemy.
While we are praying, we do two things at once: as we pray, we agree with God and His will, and we are standing steadfastly against the enemy.
Sometimes there may be some situations, some problems that endure with certain people, some opinions that always surface, and we may pray many prayers….but the Lord may want us to pray prayers of warfare.
When we pray such prayers, we take our eyes off the problems, the persons, or the environment, and we deal with the enemy who is behind the scene.
There is a battle going on, there’s a conflict of two kingdoms. We do not fight against flesh and blood; the brothers are not our enemy, neither are people the target or object of our prayer.
We have a spiritual enemy, and when we utter prayers of warfare, we drive out God’s enemy and bring in God’s kingdom. When the enemy is dealt with, the situation is changed outwardly. Such prayer indicates that we as the church are standing on God’s side and we’re opposed to God’s enemy.
Fighting prayers drive away the power of darkness, bring in God’s authority, and enable God to have His will done on earth. Maybe we are not ready to pray too many prayers of warfare, but we can pray that we would learn how to pray in this way.
We can pray that the Lord would train us to pray fighting prayers, the prayers of warfare, the prayers that will drive away the power of darkness, bring in God’s authority, and enable God to have His will on earth.
God has a will; He wants to carry out His will, but He won’t do it if we are passive. Whether or not the kingdom of God can come to the earth and God can rule on earth depends on whether or not we pray fighting prayers, prayers of spiritual warfare (Psa. 144:5; Isa. 64:1).
We may even pray like Isaiah, Oh Lord, that You would rend the heavens, that You would come down…Oh, may the Lord grant us mercy and show us that His prayer is not just for little things but for the unlimited spread of the kingdom of God on the earth and also in the whole universe!
And may we realise that we as the church need to utter prayers of warfare to both bring in God’s kingdom and to drive out God’s enemy!
May we pray sufficiently, offering true prayers that are for His kingdom. Unless the ultimate purpose of our prayers is God’s kingdom, our prayers have little value before God; but when our prayers are for God’s kingdom to come and for His enemy to be cast out, God will be happy to answer our prayers.
Amen, may we be those who pray prayers of warfare, the prayers for bringing in the kingdom of God and of driving out God’s enemy!
Lord, may Your kingdom come on earth and may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven! Amen, Lord, gain us as the church to pray prayers of warfare, prayers that bring in the kingdom of God and drive out God’s enemy. We want to give You our highest cooperation by being joined to You and uttering the prayers that are in Your heart so that You may bring in Your kingdom, You may defeat the enemy through us, and You may carry out Your will. Amen, Lord, we agree with Your will, and we focus only on You: bring in Your kingdom and drive out Your enemy!
Being in the Heavenlies and Utter Prayers of Warfare so that God’s Heavenly Authority may come on earth
God and Satan each have a kingdom, and these kingdoms are at war; we as human beings cannot be neutral, for God wants man to willingly cooperate with Him, and Satan is doing his best to deceive us and lure us to cooperate with Him.
God desires to enter into man, and Satan also wants to get into man; God wants to be mingled with man, and Satan also wants to be mixed with man.
Our prayers, therefore, are very significant, for in prayer we can express to God what we desire, and when we are joined to Him and utter His will to Him, we will stand with God and He will carry out His will.
Prayer is man expressing to God that He wants God and he’s standing on God’s side; also, prayer is man telling Satan that he is standing with God and he is opposing Satan.
Such prayers are prayers of warfare; our prayers cannot be neutral, for they join us to God for His purpose and they also cause Satan to suffer loss.
When we pray for man’s salvation we not only pray that they would receive God’s life but we bind Satan as the strong man, we deal with Satan, and we bring these ones into God’s kingdom.
When a person believes into the Lord, he is not only saved and rescued from going to hell, but he is released from Satan’s ruling and transferred into God’s kingdom.
So when we pray for our preaching the gospel and caring for one another, we need to utter prayers of warfare to drive Satan away and to bring in the kingdom of God over people. True prayers always bring in God’s kingdom to man and drive away Satan’s power from man.
Sinners want to be saved, believers want to love the Lord, and all men want to know God and enjoy God, but they are under the usurpation of Satan, who is the ruler of this world.
Because there’s someone in the air who usurps man and controls men on earth, sinners are prevented by him to receive the gospel and the believers are hindered from their growth in life.
So we must be like Daniel, be joined to the Lord for His desire through His word, agree with His word, and utter prayers of warfare so that God’s heavenly authority may come on the earth!
We must rise up and live in the heavenly realm to touch the throne of God as Daniel did, and pray that God’s heavenly authority may be brought down on the earth.
Amen, when we pray such fighting prayers, the power of darkness will be driven away, the authority of God will be brought in, and God will have a way to carry out His will on earth.
Amen, may we be such ones, praying persons who are in the heavenly realm, touching the throne of God, and pouring down prayers from heaven!
Amen, may we be above the earth, above the air, above the power of darkness, and be on the throne with Christ in the heavenlies, so that we may utter prayers of warfare! Amen!
Oh, may the Lord gain such ones, those who not only pray for situations but for the root of the situation, who pray not for problems but touch the throne of God, are in the heavenlies, and pray prayers of warfare so that God’s heavenly authority may come to the earth and the enemy will be dealt with.
Lord Jesus, we turn to You; we want to be so one with You in the heavenly realm that we touch the throne of God and are one with the Body to pour down prayers from heaven. Amen, Lord, may we realise that our position is in Christ on the throne, and we as the church are in the heavenlies uttering prayers of warfare so that God’s heavenly authority may come on earth! Hallelujah! Lord, we stand with You on earth, we agree with Your will, and we pray one with You that Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth, and the enemy would be caused to suffer loss!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” ch. 18, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Development of the Kingdom of God in the Church Life and the Christian Life (2019 spring ITERO), week 6, The Conflict of the Two Kingdoms and the Work and Responsibility of the Church.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Father, let Thy kingdom come, / Let it come with living power; / Speak at length the final word, / Usher in the triumph hour. / As it came in days of old, / In the deepest hearts of men, / When Thy martyrs died for Thee, / Let it come, O God, again. (Hymns #795)
# Kingdom of Christ, for thy coming we pray, / Hasten, O Father, the dawn of the day / When this new song Thy creation shall sing, / Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King. (Hymns #151)
# Though deep the darkness be / We still would onward go, / Till we the day of rapture greet / And glory ‘round shall glow. / ’Tis there we’ll see the Lord, / And Satan overcome; / The overcomers will rejoice, / Jesus, the Lord. has come! (Hymns #893)
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