Going Out for Battle

I’ve always heard it said that it’s when you’re really making an impact for the Kingdom for God that you start facing severe trials and persecution.  Obviously Satan doesn’t want us to succeed in glorifying God, and he’ll do anything in his (limited) power to destroy anyone who does.  Of course, we have an incredibly powerful weapon on our side: prayer.  But how often do we actually tap into this power and rebuke Satan?  How often is it that we actually trust in the power of Christ to overcome these trials?  Jesus says in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”  Jesus has already won the battle; all we have to do now is declare whose side we’re on.

This past week our whole team has felt a kind of spiritual heaviness that has practically exhausted us.  Satan has come against us in many ways recently, yet we’ve all experienced victory in different areas through prayer.  It’s been truly incredible!  We have seen God answer prayers in miraculous ways, and I have been very encouraged and reminded that God is always faithful.  He never leaves us in the hands of the enemy, and is ready at our side when we call on Him.  Our team has recently gotten a new boat to use to visit the villages around the lake.  Patrick and Chris traveled to Zimbabwe to pick it up, and every step of the way they faced difficulties.  We all knew that there was a spiritual battle raging, because Satan knew that if we got this boat God would be glorified.  Our team didn’t sit idly by waiting for the boys to come back.  We dug into the trenches and went to war with Satan by praying that God’s power would be evident in the whole thing.  It was exhausting, but God answered our prayers in big ways, and God got all the glory for it!

Patrick, Chris, and the very prayed-over boat!

 I have found a lot of encouragement in Isaiah recently, specifically Isaiah 33:3 which says, “O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you.  Be our strength every morning, our salvation in times of distress.”  This has been a good reminder that I must call on the Lord daily.  In so many ways we really are at war.  There is a spiritual battle being waged around us whether we know it or not, and prayer in the strongest weapon we have.