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The Purpose for Warfare of Prayer Life – Part One:
It cannot be stated too frequently that the life of a Christian is a warfare, an intense conflict, a lifelong contest. It is a battle, moreover, waged against invisible foes, who are ever alert, and ever seeking to entrap, deceive and ruin the souls of men. The life to which Holy Scripture calls men is no picnic or holiday junketing. It is no pastime, no pleasure jaunt. It entails effort, wrestling, struggling; it demands the putting forth of the full energy of the spirit in order to frustrate the foe and to come off, at the last, more than conqueror. “From start to finish, it is war, the Christian soldier must be as intense in his praying as in his fighting, for his victories will depend very much more on his praying than on his fighting” —E.M. Bounds. our fight is not against flesh and blood. It is an attack in the spiritual realm and is an unseen power encounter between two kingdoms. The enemy is on an all out attack to stop prayer, because he knows that there is power in intercession. There is power in even one intercessor that knows his/her authority in prayer. The movie War Room is an excellent example of the power of prayer demonstrated in an elderly intercessor who knew her authority and would not give in to enemy lies. She taught a younger woman how to stand strong in prayer for her marriage, and God broke through in an amazing way. Jesus came to Earth as a man in order to defeat the devil (who was holding the world in captivity) and to obliterate his works. The Apostle John wrote, “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8 NKJV).
Warfare prayer is a prayer technique popular with charismatic Christian denominations. It focuses on using prayer as a weapon to do battle with the spiritual forces of evil, especially in regard to one’s daily life, behaviors, and struggles. Almost always, warfare prayer is just what it sounds like: prayers prayed for the purpose of waging war against an unseen, spiritual enemy who is bent on making us unhappy by thwarting our dreams and desires. There is no doubt that spiritual warfare is real. Christians have an enemy in Satan and his demons. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [a]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV). Prayer is commanded in the context of putting on the armor of God. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” Ephesians 6:18 (NKJV). Some things recommended by warfare prayer adherents are useful. That said, some warfare prayer techniques are unbiblical, and believers should take great care not to be led astray by man’s opinion about how to pray versus God’s command.
Warfare prayers should be prayed out loud over the circumstance, situation and struggle, repeatedly, until your breakthrough comes, or you receive an answer from the Lord what is your next step to take during this crisis. You should never focus your attention on an individual nor speak to Satan directly, because all prayers should be between you and God. Our prayers are to be directed to God alone, for He is the only One who can bring you deliverance, healing, restoration and salvation. You are not a volunteer soldier in this army; you cannot choose whether or not you want to participate. You were drafted into the Lord’s army on the day you said, “Lord Jesus, I receive You into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior.” Every blood–bought believer is in this army, so you have lots of company. There is no provision for conscientious objectors.
When you were drafted into the Lord’s army by your Commander–in–Chief, it’s as if you suddenly switched sides. By default, you used to be on the devil’s side, although you probably didn’t realize it, and now you’re on the Lord’s side. That means that you have automatically, implicitly declared war on the devil. The Bible never tells us to rebuke Satan or to speak to him or his demons in any way. The rebuking of Satan is done by the Lord, not us. “Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!’” – (Jude 1:9) The biblical instruction is to submit to God and resist the devil, not to demand things of Satan. “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” James 4:7 (NKJV). When warfare prayer experts encourage believers to “command” things to happen in their lives or to aggressively pray for a dream or desire that may or may not be God’s will, this is not faith, this is a form of witchcraft, which can only head to as a recipe for discouragement and disaster.