DANGER ZONES
So,
now we know the armor and our weapon; we know the plans and the methods of
victory. We are not only aware of satan's
schemes and his evil cunning, but we are wise in GOD's
provided means for defeating him and his demons. It is time to arm for battle
and perfect our skills. Remember victory depends on our relationship with our
heavenly Family.
The
devil takes our prayer warfare very seriously, because he knows when we are
interceding for a soul, GOD is in charge. For this reason alone he, and/or his
demons, will exert any and every effort to keep Prayer Warriors from praising
and praying. These activities cause the forces of darkness to tremble.
There
are several dangers Prayer Warriors must be made aware of, to be prepared for.
The first and foremost, of course, is making sure our connection to our
Commander-in-Chief is intact. Otherwise, the Bible clearly points out several
areas, of which we will review five of them, where our connection can be
broken. These are:
1.
Cherished sin (Psalm 66:18). As stated elsewhere, when we have, and maintain, a
relationship with CHRIST, cherished sin will no longer be a problem.
2.
Unforgiveness (Mark
3.
Double-mindedness (James 1:7,8). We are not to pray
one way and act the opposite. When we do this, we are showing doubt of our
Father's Word.
4.
Not asking (James 4:2). Yes, the Father already knows what we're going to ask
for whom or for what. BUT HE ESTABLISHED THE RULE: For us to get--we must first
ask.
5.
Asking for a selfish reason (James 4:3). ALL prayers must be for GOD's reasons or He cannot answer them.
Other
dangers which the devil's cohorts will use to "disarm" you, are:
a.
FEAR. Prayer warfare is by no means neutral. If satan's demons can immobilize us by fear, then they
can keep Prayer Warriors from arming for the assault. Remember, though, we are
fighting heaven's battles on earth, and all the 'fear not'
promises are ours to claim.
b.
WORK. Another equally immobilizing danger for Prayer Warriors is becoming so
engrossed and preoccupied with our 'secular' work/and the demands of daily
life, that we let our intercessions slide into half-hearted platitudes and
trite phrases of "Bless Mrs.___" or "Watch over ____".
Prayer
warfare deserves quality time, because we are in the Armed Forces of King
JESUS!
c. UNFOCUSED
PRAYER. If the devil's cohorts cannot stop us through fear or too much to do,
they'll try to get us to pray so generally that we won't remember what we
prayed. Thus we will not be able to recognize if our request has been answered,
and not be able to praise GOD for it!
If
we want genuine answers, then our prayers need to be highly specific and detailed
(within the Father's will). Take a definite need and a specific promise, name
for whom you are praying, then ask the Father, by the
SPIRIT, for exactly what you are seeking and trust Him for a concrete answer in
His time.
d.
GIVING UP TOO SOON. If after throwing everything else against us, and it
hasn't stopped or, at least, slowed us down from praying, the devil's cohorts
will use this danger, that of giving up too soon. The amazing thing is, it works!
Read
Daniel 10:12,13 for the reason some prayer answers are
delayed. Also, JESUS told a parable to His disciples to show them they should
always pray AND NOT GIVE UP. (Luke 18:1)
Our
heavenly Father always has reasons for seeming delays; often He has a better
plan and a better time for the answer to happen. The danger is: DON'T STOP,
DON'T GIVE UP and DON'T GIVE IN! Many, many answers will come only when you hold on to GOD no
matter what.