Prayer Moves The Arm Of God

Eph 6:18; Isa 59:1-2

The Holy Spirit has come to empower & lead us in spiritual warfare.

· Holy Spirit is believer’s divine power & enabling source for all weapons. (Eph 6:10-18)

· H Spirit guides us into truth, seals our salvation, brings assurance, enables us to stand & fight, shields us from error, comforts us, empowers us, & teaches us to pray.

· It is possible to know all the doctrine of H Spirit & still not know or receive him.

· Receive the H Spirit… lay hold of that which is given. (Acts 2:38)

· Brokenness leading to humble repentance is the prerequisite for receiving the H Spirit.

· To be filled with Spirit, you must be emptied of self & surrendered to Jesus… it is to have Christ filling our heart in ever-increasing measure until we have no life apart from him.

· Have you received the H Spirit?

· Ask, seek, knock… our Father will give H Spirit to those who ask Him. (Lk 11:9,13)

· The war you’re engaged in is spiritual, & you must use spiritual weapons in win.

Prayer is critical in spiritual warfare… it takes you to God’s throne. (Eph 6:18)

· Prayer is the most critical weapon in spiritual warfare & probably the least used.

· In many ways it is not an overstatement to say… Prayer Is Spiritual Warfare.

· Prayer takes us into God’s presence to ask for resources needed to teardown strongholds.

· Believers who are aware of the war & power of the enemy spend much time in prayer.

· Satan is constructing strongholds today in the minds of Christians.

· Satan’s purpose is to keep truth about God from those who need to know & trust Him.

· His ultimate purpose in getting us to think wrongly about God is to thwart our prayers.

· “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.” William Cowper

· Our prayer life is a direct reflection of what we really believe about God.

· If you don’t believe God is sovereign, responsive, & strong, your prayer life will diminish.

The prayer of a righteous man is power & effective. (Ja 5:16)

· Powerful & effective prayer of righteous man is essential for victory in spiritual warfare.

· Power in prayer depends on your life… when your life is right, prayers will be answered.

· The righteous man’s prayer moves the arm of God. (Isa 59:1-2; Ja 5:16)

o God does not listen to sinners, He listens to the godly man who does His will. (Jn 9:31)

· God’s Word is ammunition for your main spiritual offensive weapon… PRAYER.

o The righteous man’s prayer is powerful because he has first sought God’s will & he has surrendered his will to God’s. (Not my will, but yours be done. (Mt 26:39))

· If you stay joined to me & my words remain in you, you’ll bear much fruit. (Jn 15:5,7)

· The believer, a branch of Christ the heavenly vine, is to live exclusively so Christ may bear fruit thru him… the true Christian is devoted to bearing fruit to the glory of God.

· What life must you lead to bear fruit… to pray powerful & effective prayers?

· Live as a branch depending on the vine for strength… the source of power in prayer is the vine, not your righteous acts. (Jn 15:5, 7)

o Your focus must not be on doing righteous acts, but on staying connected to Jesus.

Satan’s strongholds against believer’s prayer.

Stronghold: God is not sovereign. Satan’s lie… if God is in control, when you ask why, wouldn’t He tell you? Another lie… His sovereignty doesn’t extend down to practical matters of life like money, family, & daily bread… so why pray if God isn’t in those details?

· Truth: Good is involved in every detail of our life & taught us to pray… “give us this day our daily bread.” (Mt 6:11)

Stronghold: God is slow. Satan’s lie… God is slow & therefore cannot be trusted.

· Truth: God is not slow… He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish. (v.3:9)

Stronghold: God is silent. Satan’s lie… God is silent because He lacks wisdom about you.

· Many who say “I never hear God speaking to me” are suffering from noise overload.

· We are so inundated with noise of our culture that it cancels out God’s still, quiet voice.

· Truth: We can counter the cultural noise thru (1) reading the Word, (2) maintaining a quiet time, & (3) meditating on the character of God.

Stronghold: God is not secure. Satan’s lie… God is your servant & He owes us an explanation for every unpleasant circumstance, & everything He does.

· Truth: God is content in Himself whether we understand Him or not. He doesn’t need my understanding, much less my approval.

Stronghold: God is not strong. Satan’s lie… God is not strong enough to meet our needs.

· Truth: God is both strong enough & caring enough to help when we are hurting, but His purposes may not call for Him to intervene at that time.

How to demolish strongholds.

· Each day put on the full armor of God thru prayer one piece at a time. (Eph 6:10-18):

· What if your lack of prayer reveals you have allowed Satan to build a stronghold?

· God’s Word is the ultimate source of truth… needed to replace Satan’s lies.

· Only Truth believed & acted on will set you free. (Jn 8:32)

· To pull down strongholds & gain victory, take the following steps. (2Cor 10:3-5)

1. Accept your position & authority in Christ. As a Christian, you have been raised from spiritual death & are seated in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph 2:6)

· You are a citizen of heaven, not of earth… fix your eyes on heaven.

· All authority has been given to Christ, (Mt 28:18) & in Him we have the right to exercise that authority against all the strongholds of the enemy.

2. Confess & repent of your sins. You cannot exercise authority against the devil if you have yielded a foothold to him in your life. (Eph 4:27; Jn 9:31)

3. Pray in the Spirit… apply your authority. Spiritual warfare prayer is hard spiritual labor.

· God does the binding, not us. But in the authority of Christ we pull down strongholds in prayer until we are free from the spiritual bondage that has blocked our victory in Christ.