The Christian faces opposition, by taking the battle to prayer.
In
living the Christian life, we should not be shocked by the opposition that
comes against us! It often comes at us
from people as they attempt to derail us or stop us. This is what happened to Nehemiah and the
people of Israel. God had given the task
of rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem to Nehemiah. He challenged the people to work with him to
filling in the gaps in the wall.
No
sooner had the work started and Sanballat along with Tobia mocked them and
began to conspire how to attack them and stop the work.
In
Nehemiah 4 verses 4, 5 and 9 you see that Nehemiah took that opposition to the
Lord in prayer.
Satan
is our enemy; but at the cross he was defeated.
Satan may be the prince of this world but Christ has overcome the world. Satan’s focus is to thwart and oppose all
that is of God. As followers of Jesus it
should be no surprise that Satan will come against us using any and all means
possible.
How should we respond?
In the same manner as Nehemiah! The apostle Peter said, “Your enemy the
devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.” 1
Peter 5:8b-9a (NIV) James says, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil
and he will flee from you. 8 Draw
near to God and He will draw near to you.” James 4:7-8a (NKJV)
Both James and Peter are
talking about taking the power of prayer to stand and resist our opposition. Jesus encouraged his followers in Luke
18:1 (NIV) “that they
should always pray and not give up.”
There are two points about our prayers that Peter and
James highlight for us. The first is
that our ability to resist the devil and to oppose him comes through our prayers
in submission to God. Submitting to God
happens when we acknowledge our need of Him and that only He has the power to
oppose evil. So Paul could say Philippians
4:13 (NKJV) I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Secondly we resist and oppose the devil’s attacks
through prayer with faith. It is faith
which believes that God can and will overcome the enemy of our souls. As we submit to God by placing the outcome of
the battle in God’s hands; our faith attests that God can and will defeat the
enemy.
We will not be able to resist our opposition for very
long unless we believe that in Christ we will and can overcome the
opposition! As we submit to God
completely in every area of our lives, we are acknowledging His Lordship over
us. The battle then belongs to the Lord!
Read: Nehemiah 4:1-9
