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Wesley L. Duewel - Clover Sites Flipbook PDF
2 26 You Need to Prevail in Prayer To be aChristian is to praying person; certainly all Christians pray at times. Such o
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Wesley L. Duewel “TOUCH THE WORLD THROUGH PRAYER” 1
26 You Need to Prevail in Prayer To be a Christian is to be a praying person; certainly all Christians pray at times. Such ordinary praying is a joyous blessing, but there are times when extraordinary praying is called for. And even more mature Christians often do surprisingly little of this kind of praying. is It is the person who practices prevailing prayer, however, who wields power with God and with men. There is an essential interrelatedness between prevailing prayer, prayer warfare, the binding of Satan in prayer, and using the command of faith to move mountains for God. All may be involved in a given situation. All are related to Christ's victory at Calvary and to the power of the Holy Spirit. In some situations the Holy Spirit guides into one level of prayer and then may deepen and intensify the praying as one moves from level to level. Paul, in his challenge to spiritual warfare, urges believers to "pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests" (Eph. 6:18). Christ would teach you each of these
divine strategies to use at His direction. *Why is prevailing prayer necessary? *What experience have you had with prevailing prayer? * When have you prevailed in prayer? * How much do you desire to learn how prayer?
to
prevail in
These are very important questions. Your success in prayer will be determined by the depth of your desire to practice prevailing prayer. 2
Why Is Prevailing Prayer Necessary? “To prevail” is "to be successful in the face of difficulty, to completely dominate, to overcome and triumph." Prevailing prayer is prayer that pushes right through all difficulties and obstacles, drives back all the opposing forces of Satan, and secures the will of God. Its purpose is to accomplish God's will on earth. Prevailing prayer is prayer that not only takes the initiative but continues on the offensive for God until spiritual victory is won. In many situations, before prayer is answered, people must take certain actions. Whether they are saved or unsaved people, human beings cannot control others' wills because God has given us freedom to choose. In addition to human influence, the Holy Spirit and Satan are influencing the thought life of human beings. The Holy Spirit speaks directly through God's Word, through other people's words, and often through angels who suggest thoughts without the person being aware of the source. He may prepare circumstances that exert pressure or make certain actions possible. Similarly, Satan, the master of deception, tries to influence the thought life of people, whether through the actions or words of others or through demonic suggestion. Prevailing prayer is necessary in the following situations: To oppose Satan in his battle for souls. When you pray for
an unsaved person to yield to Christ, you are praying in harmony with God's will, with the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and with the assistance of God's angels. But you are also praying in direct opposition to Satan and against the actions of all his evil spirits. Even when we are sure we are praying in accordance 3
with the will of God, we are often met with surprising resistance. God never overpowers the human will. He speaks to conscience, but a person's conscience may be deadened. Satan's prime battleground is the human mind, and his demons must be resisted and driven away. In the case of a sinner, it is comparatively easy for Satan to get a hearing for his suggestions. Serious prayer is necessary to offset his diabolical schemes. To
overcome
the
satanic
seduction of Christians.
Even strong believers are subject to demonic suggestion. On one occasion Satan succeeded in persuading David to take a wrong action by "inciting" his mind (1 Chron. 21:1). He guided Peter's thought processes in an encounter with Jesus, and Jesus instantly realized that Peter was unconsciously voicing Satan's suggestion (Matt. 16:23). Satan also injected evil thoughts into the minds of James and John (Luke 9:55-56). Sometimes even the most spiritual may temporarily lapse into uncharacteristic displays of weakness. The critical word spoken in a committee meeting, the malicious gossip whispered in conversation, the lack of faith evidenced in decision-making may actually have originated as a suggestion from one of Satan's demons. If Satan could penetrate even the mind of Christ, tempting Him for forty days and forty nights (Matt. 4:1-11), then we should not be surprised that we need to prevail in prayer. To protect yourself or others from direct satanic attack. Job was not the only one who was attacked
physically by Satan. One wonders, however, if Job's trials might have been lifted much sooner if his three "friends" had been praying Christians! The thorn in Paul's flesh was a messenger of Satan (2 Cor. 12:7). Luke
4
13:10-17 tells of a woman crippled for eighteen years by Satan. In Mark 9:17-20 a demon spirit robbed a boy of speech and caused convulsions. Near-fatal accidents have often convinced Christian workers that Satan was trying to destroy them. In the mountains of India, while en route to ministry, our Christian co-workers have suddenly been confronted by wild animals. A new group of believers was frightened one New Year's Eve by a trumpeting herd of elephants, who had demolished their simple church structure on three previous occasions. Over Whom Do You Prevail in Prayer? Prevailing prayer can be exhausting work. Many Christians are so spiritually frail, sickly, and lacking in spiritual vitality that they cannot stick to prayer for more than a few minutes at a time. Such people are too spiritually weak to know how to pray with real soul travail. You must
prevail over yourself.
Others are so carnal that not only does their physical nature shrink from prayer, but their carnal nature fears prayer involvement, holds back from prolonged praying, and finds a multitude of excuses for not prevailing in prayer. A Spirit-filled person is hungry to pray, rejoices in extra time for prayer, and is eager to sacrifice other things in order to pray more. Many people need to confess their prayerlessness and ask God to deliver them. I urge you to claim God's victory by faith over your prayer defeats, inner hesitations, and prayerlessness. You must prevail over Satan. Satan and his demons do not want you to learn the secrets of prayer. They fear your prayer more than your witness and your work. They would rather have you to be busy for God all day than to 5
pray for one hour. Spiritual victories are normally won in spiritual warfare. We see so few great spiritual victories because we fight so few prayer battles. We are powerless and fruitless because we engage in prayer so casually. We have never learned prayer warfare. If you are unwilling to fight, don't expect great victories (Eph. 2:2; 6:11-12; John 14:30; 1 John 4:4; 5:19). Daniel's prayer was granted, but for twenty-one days his answers were delayed by demon powers (Daniel 10:1213). If Daniel had not fasted and fought the prayer battle the full three weeks, if he had stopped one day short of victory, we would not have the great tenth chapter of Daniel. If you ask for something in God's will and do not persevere in prayer, you may never receive God's answer. Not only must you prevail over yourself and over the powers of darkness, but God will also test your earnestness and depth of desire. You
must
prevail
before
God.
Jesus tested the Greek woman whose daughter was suffering from demon-possession (Matt. 1.5:21-28). At first Jesus kept silent, and the disciples said, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us" (v. 23). But she pressed her case before Jesus until she prevailed and received total deliverance for her little girl. In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed three hours until He prevailed. His prayer agony was so great that God sent an angel to strengthen Him. You will learn many spiritual lessons because of God's delayed answers to prayer. Perhaps these delays are for the purpose of teaching you how to prevail in prayer. 6