Praying for others

Will praying for others make us vulnerable to the Devil's attack? If the Devil was causing problems to the person we were praying for, will he turn on us? Let's have a Biblical look at this question.

There's an incident recorded in the Bible, where a few people tried to cast demons out of a possessed man (Acts 19:13-17). The demons recognized the name of Jesus, but attacked those who used His name, because of their wrong attitude. There is a lesson to be learnt there. The name of Jesus is powerful. When we use His name, we need to have the right attitude. Not a "will this really work" attitude, but a "I've received authority from my Lord Jesus, so obey my command" kind of attitude (Luke 10:19). Let there be no fear in us. God has not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of power (2 Timothy 1:7)!

When we pray for others, things happen in the invisible spiritual realm. We stand out from others who're not praying. Both angels and demons, who are part of the spiritual realm, are affected by our prayers. Angels - strengthened to do God's will more on this earth. Demons - bound or weakened in their evil work. So naturally we gain some friends and earn some enemies.

We read in Ephesians 6:12 ...
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Is this a cause for concern? Should we be afraid of this spiritual warfare? Yes, it is right to recognize the impact our prayers create, and give it the due importance. But it is not right to stop praying! Because the following verses say ...
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

All the equipment needed for spiritual battle are listed there. We need to check if all our equipment are in battle-ready condition.

What happens if in a moment of weakness, we sin? It is like having a chink in the armour. Is that the end of us? Will we be destroyed? God says "my grace is sufficient for you, in your weakness I'm strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9). We need to recognize our weakness, confess our sins, and get His forgiveness. Immediately the chink is mended, the full protective armour is back in action!

It is God who chose us first and not us who chose Him (John 15:16). He is faithful even though we're unfaithful so many times. It is because of His grace that we're spiritually alive. He knows just how vulnerable we are and gives His grace accordingly. And His mercy is new every morning (Lamentations 3:22,23). Let's go to Him every day, receive that mercy and grace, and fight this battle.

The moment we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour we're marked in the spiritual realm. Jesus becomes our best Friend, and the Devil our worst enemy. The Devil goes about like a lion seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8). But Jesus, the Lion of Judah, is greater than the Devil! Greater is He who is in us than he that is in the world (I John 4:4). Rejoice! We're on the winning side!

If God be for us who can be against us (Romans 8:31)? Let's continue praying for others.

The seal of God

The revelation given by our Lord to Apostle John talks about the last days. Let's look at a portion of the revelation.

Revelation 9:1-4 (NIV)
The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

Here John talks about a certain fearful judgement that can only be escaped if the seal of God is upon our foreheads. What is the seal of God? How do we get it? We see the answer in the following passage:

Ezekiel 9:4 (NIV)
"Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it."

God was executing judgement upon Jerusalem. He first sent an angel to go throughout Jerusalem to separate out people who did His will and those who didn't. Lot of detestable things were being done in Jerusalem. Those who looked at it, grieved about it, and lamented about it were given the seal of God on their foreheads. They were spared the terrible judgement. Those who did nothing about the detestable things were severely punished, as we see in the following verses:

Ezekiel 9:5-6 (NIV)
As I listened, he said to the others, "Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.

Judgement started right from the house of God. Even the elders who were in the front of the temple were not spared, if they failed to do His will.

We are now living in the last days. The second coming of our Lord is imminent. Sin has increased in the world. Detestable things are happening everywhere. What are we doing about it? Do we just ignore them and go on with our lives? Do we judge those who do such things as evil, and just avoid them? What should be our attitude in these terrible times?

God expects us to grieve over the sins of people and intercede for them with Him. He is looking for people to stand in the gap and intercede for people. Only those who do that will be eligible to receive the seal of God on their foreheads and escape the terrible judgement.

The Lord says: "be holy for I am holy". Shun evil ways. Be holy in His sight. Be burdened for friends. Intercede for them. Stand in the gap. Receive His seal.