Prophetic Prayer: When Someone Has Something Against You

Prophetic Prayer: When Someone Has Something Against You

(66) Ian Lottering - A great Major General of the Faith; Reinhard...

(66) Ian Lottering - A great Major General of the Faith; Reinhard...

Conflict of the Ages

December 5

Conflict of the Ages

Scripture

“But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God comes unto you.” (Mat_12:28)

Anointed by God 

Jesus was a man, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and with power; who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil — because God was with Him. He made it clear that He only did what He saw His Father doing. On one particular occasion, it was casting a demon out of a wretch of a man.

Jesus healed him, giving him back his sight and hearing. The people who saw it were duly impressed, to say the least. “This has to be the Son of David!” they proclaimed of Jesus. But the Pharisees, when they heard the report, were cynical. “It’s nothing more than black magic,” they said. “Some devil trick he’s pulled from his sleeve.” (The Message).

Jesus confronted their slander with piercing wisdom – “A judge who gives opposite verdicts on the same person cancels himself out; a family that’s in a constant squabble disintegrates; so if Satan banishes Satan, is there any Satan left?”

They couldn’t answer Him — but He wasn’t finished: “If you’re slinging mud at Me, calling Me a devil kicking out devils, doesn’t the same mud stick to your own exorcists?” And then Jesus delivers the final blow against their ignorance – “But if it’s by God’s power that I am sending the evil spirits packing, then God’s kingdom is here for sure.” (from The Message)

Jesus' Purpose

Jesus came with a specific purpose: to render the devil of no effect, and to undo the works which the devil had wrought. He succeeded with overwhelming effectiveness.

The Bible tells us “He exposed principalities as shattered, empty and defeated” (Col_2:15, Phillips NT). And, having done all this for our sake, He now has brought us into the victory of His great accomplishment; delivering us from the power of darkness, and translating us into the Kingdom of God.

Though it is finished, the full evidence of it will not be seen until the Day of the Lord — when Christ returns. Until then, we are caught in the tension of two opposing kingdoms, experiencing the conflict of the ages.

God's Kingdom is Come

Yet we are not victims, but victors. We are not helpless, but hopeful. We are not defenceless but clothed in the armour of light. We are not powerless but filled with the Holy Spirit. And we are not alone, but surrounded with a mighty host — a band of brothers and sisters on earth, and armies of flaming angels in heaven above.

The Kingdom of God has come, and the devil is on the run!

The Called Out Community

December 6

The Community of the Called Out

Scripture

“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the City, the watchman waketh but in vain” (Psa_127:1)

Community

Man is a communal creature by design; we are not built to be alone. While some rare souls seek solace in the caverns of monastic retreat, the overwhelming majority of us are forever compelled toward the community. It is how God has wired us.
The question, then, is what kind of community do we seek? Like Abraham of old, we “seek a city, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb_11:10). That is to say, we hunger for a godly community in every sense of the word. Law and order, peace and justice, truth and goodness, love and mercy, freedom and creativity. In one word — godly.
Jesus made it clear that He came to start just such a community on the earth. “I will build My Church,” He said, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The Greek word He used is ekklesia, meaning “the community of the called out.” This immediately makes us ask, “Called out of what?”

An Old Hymn

The old hymn gives the best answer –
Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night; Thy freedom, gladness, and light.of my sickness into Thy health, of my want and into Thy wealth, of my sin and into Thyself,, I come to Thee.
Out of my shameful failure and loss; the glorious gain of Thy cross. of earth’s sorrows into Thy balm, of life’s storms and into Thy calm, of distress to jubilant psalm,, I come to Thee.
Out of unrest and arrogant pride; Thy blessed will to abide.of myself to dwell in Thy love, of despair into raptures above, for aye on wings like a dove, I come to Thee.
Out of the fear and dread of the tomb; the joy and light of Thy home. of the depths of ruin untold, the peace of Thy sheltering fold, Thy glorious face to behold,, I come to Thee.
(William T. Sleeper, 1896)

A Question

Another question arises, “What, then is it that we have been called into?” To be sure, it is a community like nothing this world has to offer. The Bible refers to it in such comprehensive terms as The House of the Lord, the City of our God, and the Kingdom of Heaven. It is both local and global, as well as eternal. It is not institutional; but relational.
It is gathered in the name of the Lord, governed by the word of the Lord, guided by the Spirit of the Lord, guarded by the power of the Lord, and garnished with the glory of the Lord.
And there is only one way into this community; it is through faith in the Lord Jesus, evidenced by a love for His people, which springs out of obedience to His word.

Are you in?