One Heart - Power of the WordSample

THE ENEMY WITHOUT

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” John 17:15 NIV

The devil's strategy is temptation. He tempts Eve in the Garden of Eden to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and the heart of mankind became evil (Gen.8:21). He tempted Job by making life very difficult for him (Job 1:9-11). He tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Mark 1:13). He tempted Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:12). He tempted Ananias and Sapphira to lie to the Holy Spirit (Act.5:3). He constantly patrols the earth to seek whom he can deceive (1 Pet.5:8). His aim is to cause humans to distrust and disobey God, and to lose their faith.

At the cross Jesus defeated the devil's power over death by removing the fear of death through His resurrection (Heb.2:14-15). This victory will one day be ours (1Cor.15:54-55). Jesus also came to destroy the works of the devil by redeeming us from sin. This way out was for humans to be born again (1John 3:8-10). When we are born again by faith in Jesus Christ, we are no longer under the dominion of darkness, but we have become children of God (Col.1:13). We are no longer slaves of sin but can now overcome sin (Rom.6:10-13) and every temptation of the devil.

Jesus disarmed the principalities and powers of darkness (Col.2:15) and leveled the battlefield so that church, clothed in the armor of God, are able to stand against the tricks and deceptions of the devil (Eph.6:11-18). Jesus gave us authority over all the power of the enemy by promising us that we will trample on snakes and scorpions, and that God Himself will crush Satan under our feet (Luk.10:19; Rom.16:20). The weapons we fight with are not merely human weapons, but are mighty to destroy strongholds, arguments and resistance against the Gospel. Paul mentions weapons such as the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the shoes of the gospel, the shield of faith, the Word of God, prayer, truthful speech and righteousness, love and the message of Christ crucified (2 Cor.6:7; 1 Thes.5:8; 1 Cor.1:18-24). We are divinely protected as long as we do not give the devil a foothold.

PRAYER POINTS

ME: The spiritual armor is not clothes we take off and put on every day. It is our faith in the complete work of Jesus Christ. We arm ourselves with His salvation, His righteousness, His truth, His Gospel, His shield, His Word and His Spirit. Arm yourself with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, resist the devil and he will flee from you.

US: Every demonic attack and deception weakens the church and removes her ability to be a witness for Jesus in a broken world. Pray for the church to pursue righteousness through a love of the truth, love of holiness and the fear of the Lord, and to firmly resist the devil.

THEM: The whole world is deceived by darkness. Their only solution is the message of Jesus Christ. Pray for the church to fulfil her mandate to proclaim the Gospel to the whole world.

"Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’” - Matthew 4:10