A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:10-12 – NLT).
For one who speaks in an [unknown] tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the [Holy] Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things not obvious to the understanding (1 Corinthians 14:2 – Amplified).
We are in the middle of a clash of kingdoms. The kingdom of God verses the kingdom of darkness. Satan has a desire to curtail any influence that Jesus Christ and the Word of God has on human life. He seeks to make black look white and white look black; he seeks to make bad look good, and good look bad. He makes sin seem innocuous.
At the same time God is pushing His agenda to bring Jesus Christ back to earth. The Words spoken by the prophets will come to pass! God speaks – and then allows His Word to fulfill itself while He watches over it (Isaiah 55:11; Jeremiah 1:12).
We live on earth while at the same time owing allegiance to the kingdom of heaven. God wants to use each one of us in carrying out His kingdom purposes on earth before the rapture of the church.
The most effective thing we can do is PRAY! Notice Ephesians 6:18: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.
Praying in the spirit or in other tongues is the most effective way to pray. When we pray in tongues we are uttering secret truths and hidden things not obvious to the understanding. When we pray in tongues or with groaning which cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26), we are praying the perfect will of God (Romans 8:27).
This kind of praying is vehemently resisted by Satan and his forces because it is so effective. So he stirs up controversy about praying in tongues; decries it in every way possible so that believers generally ignore its value. Then for those who do believe in the effectiveness of praying in the spirit, Satan seeks to keep them so busy and preoccupied with other things that they just don’t give time to it. All the while he pushed his dark agenda.
Let’s begin now to press into God and to take time every day to pray in the spirit. Don’t be moved by thoughts and feelings that seem to push you away. When fighting a spiritual battle, at times you sense great resistance; it seems like you’re doing nothing and getting nowhere when praying in the spirit. Don’t yield to this! Pray all the more! If you’ll persevere, the Spirit of God will anoint you to intercede and at times groan and travail in prayer (Isaiah 66:8).
Times are serious; more serious than ever in our lifetime. Set time aside today and everyday to be used by the Father to pray in the spirit. It’s time to give our Father the opportunity to show Himself strong!
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