September 8

2 Corinthians 10

The Christian life is not a playground but a battlefield. If you cannot smell the gunpowder and see the casualties of war, you are on the playground. We are locked in a battle against evil, error and the powers of darkness. Paul makes it clear that there is distinction between the weapons of this world and spiritual weapons. Worldly weapons include human cleverness, ingenuity, eloquence, hard work, propaganda, and a reliance on a charming or forceful personality.

Spiritual weapons, while scorned by the world, are feared by the powers of darkness and Satan himself. They include prayer, faith, the Word of God, worship, evangelism, unity and righteousness.

Even though a person might be considered a frail human being, if they are empowered by the Holy Spirit they can knock down strongholds of the evil one.

The test of what weapons you are using is found in the answers to two questions:

1. Did you pray today? (If you answered similar to the national average of 7 minutes, then you are on the playground)

2. Did you obey God today?

We will only be successful when we use these two weapons of prayer and obedience.

John Patton tells the story of when he was a new missionary in the New Hebrides Islands. Hostile natives surrounded his mission headquarters one night intent on burning the Pattons out and killing them. John and his wife prayed all during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see that the attackers had unaccountably left them.

A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Jesus Christ, and John, remembering what had happened, asked the chief what had kept him and his men from burning down the house and killing them.

The chief replied surprised, "Who were all those men you had with you there?" The missionary answered, "There were no men, just my wife and I." The chief argued that they had seen many standing guard ‑ hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords in their hands. They seemed to circle the mission station so that the natives were afraid to attack.

Samuel Chadwick (1860-1932) put the issue this way, “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. The devil fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. The devil laughs at our toils, mocks our wisdom, but Satan trembles when we pray.”

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"Multiplying leaders to change the world"