Amanda BethSharing the Truths Behind the TRUTH

Aug 8th Monday’s Blog: Pray In The Spirit

This is the last blog in our “Armor of God” series. We end today with Ephesians 6:18 which says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

Prayer  is a powerful defense against Satan and his army. When we are in a relationship with Jesus, and in continual communion with God, He keeps us alert and prepared in battle. Revelation 12:17 says that Satan wages war against those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. We need to pray for our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ to be alert and armed against Satan’s attacks.

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Colossians 4:2

Just as angels came and ministered to Jesus after He stood against Satan’s temptation (Matthew 4:10-11), when we humble ourselves before God and seek Him, He sends His angels in response to our prayers. In Daniel 9:20-23, an angel was sent to Daniel in response to his prayer:

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill— while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision.

Daniel’s prayer was answered the moment he prayed. And he received that answer while he was still in prayer. Why do we receive answers to some prayers right away, but others take longer to get to us? Daniel didn’t receive his answer to prayer in the next chapter (Daniel 10) as quickly as he had in the verse above.  In Daniel 10:12-14, the angel explained why there was a delay:

“Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”

God hears and answers our prayers the moment we request them. But as these verses reveal, the devil can try to hinder us from receiving them. The Bible shares other things that hinder us from receiving answers to prayer. First Peter 3:7 tells us disobedience can hinder our prayers:

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

1 Peter 3:7

James 4:3 tells us the motives of our hearts hinder us from receiving answer to prayer:

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

When our hearts are divided and not fully devoted to God, we will naturally request what our flesh desires. God loves us too much. He will not give us anything that will hurt us and draw our hearts away from Him.

Doubt and unbelief will also hinder us from receiving answers to our prayers:

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

James 1:6-8

The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing, which means to be perseverant in our prayers (1 Thessalonians 5:17). God doesn’t tell us to be unceasing in our prayers to beg Him to answer us. He tells us to be unceasing so we don’t allow Satan to steal, through doubt and unbelief, what God already promised us. We stand against Satan when we are unceasing in our prayers.

I had an incident once where I felt like my world suddenly came crashing down on me. I got hit with something that was beyond what I could bear. As I was in tears wondering what was happening to me, I found the strength to praise God and tell Him I trusted Him to see me through it.. That same evening, my situation miraculously turned around right before my eyes. God heard my prayer, sent His answer and came to my defense.

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.

A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all.

Psalm 34:17, 19

We may not always see our prayers answered right away, but we can be sure God sent His answer the moment we requested it, and it’s on its way.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7

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**Prayer for the week**

Lord,

We praise You that You hear all our prayers and requests. And we praise You that You answer our prayers the moment we humbly request them. You are faithful to Your Word. Help us trust You and be unceasing in our prayers as we wait to see Your promises come to pass in our lives and the lives of others.

In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen!

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Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s Truths and the reasons behind the Truths.

All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted.