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Servant School - Prayer

Servant School

March 24, 2022

Introduction

Welcome to our Servant School class on Prayer

This week, our lesson is titled “Spiritual Warfare”

Jesus’ ministry sometimes involved dealing with the demonic.

The word “demon” is found almost eighty times in the New Testament, and most of those are in the gospels.

We are told that Mary Magdalene had seven demons cast out of her by Jesus. (Luke 8:2)

(Luke 8:2 NKJV) —2 and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons,

The gospels don’t give us any more detail than just this – that Jesus had delivered her.

The TV show “The Chosen” gives us an idea of what might have happened. We see Mary in a bar, being called “Lillith”, and Jesus shows up…

Play “The Chosen 1.1 – Mary’s Deliverance”

https://youtu.be/3okSnkARtt4

Spiritual Warfare

When it comes to spiritual warfare, please know that I’m not going to touch on every topic that could be dealt with.

Our study is going to just be on just a few of the basics.

For some of you, this might be new.

For others of you, this is a review.

The unseen realm

The prophet Elisha was not well liked by the Syrians. He would tell the King of Israel where the Syrian army was going to attack. So one day the Syrian army decided to try and capture Elisha. They surrounded the city that Elisha was living in. It was Elisha’s servant who first saw the Syrians …

(2 Kings 6:15–17 NKJV) —15 And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Even though the Syrian army was made up of real flesh-and-blood soldiers, Elisha was very aware that there was an invisible army surrounding him … an army much larger and more powerful than the Syrians.

I think that sometimes we are not too aware of all that is going on around us.

The prophet Daniel had some amazing visions given to him by God. One of those visions didn’t come until Daniel had been fasting and praying for three whole weeks. And then Daniel saw an awesome, powerful angel of God, most likely the angel Gabriel …

(Daniel 10:12–14 NKJV) —12 Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.”

What Gabriel is describing is a battle taking place in the invisible realm of the spirit. There was a “prince of the kingdom of Persia” who was trying to stop Gabriel from getting his message to Daniel. Another angel, Michael, was dispatched to help Gabriel.

Together these angels were able to hold off this “Persian” prince, and Gabriel was able to break through.

And it all happened because of Daniel’s fasting and prayers.

Don’t miss the point that we have influence in what happens in this invisible realm of the spirit.

The mind

(2 Corinthians 10:3–5 NKJV) —3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ

Some of the battle we face is in our minds. It’s in our thoughts.

It’s important that we pay attention to what we put into our heads.

This is one reason why it’s so important to keep filling our minds with God’s Word.

(Psalm 119:11 NKJV) Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

Our Weapons

The truth is there is a battle going on around us. And God has given us weapons.

Authority

Jesus had authority over demons.

The producers of “The Chosen” also gave us another look at Jesus dealing with a demon. In this scene, there is a “demoniac”, a man possessed by demons, who shows up in the disciples’ camp. He threatens the disciples. And then Jesus shows up.

Play “The Chosen 2.5 – Demon Cast Out”

https://youtu.be/s2BF0GcM52I

When we talk about authority, never forget that the authority we have is Jesus’ authority.

On our own, we cannot stand against the demonic.

Jesus first gave His “authority” to the Twelve.

(Luke 9:1 NKJV) Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.

This “authority” is tied to the things we do “in His name” (we talked about this on our first week)

Later, He sent out a group of seventy. (Luke 10:1)

(Luke 10:1 NKJV) —1 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.

When the seventy returned, they were quite blown away about the things that had happened…notice the “Your name” comment…

(Luke 10:17–20 NKJV) —17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus could see what was happening in the invisible realm. He saw Satan being impacted by what these seventy were doing.

This is the same authority that Jesus has given to us.

We too have authority “in Jesus’ name”.

When it comes to our “authority”, I would caution you from thinking that every bad thing is being caused by a demon.

There are plenty of things that are caused by the demonic, but we shouldn’t give Satan more credit than he deserves.

Some folks face every difficulty by “casting out the demon” in “Jesus’ name”.

But the truth is, this isn’t going to work when the enemy is our own flesh.

A person struggling with lust or addiction may not find the relief they need by “casting out the demon of lust”.

Your problem may not be a “demon”. It may be you. It may be your “flesh”

We deal with the flesh by learning to crucify it, to deny it, and to build up our spiritual nature through godly disciplines like fellowship, confession, prayer, and reading God’s Word.

Armor

(Ephesians 6:10–18 NKJV) —10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Paul is acknowledging that unseen world which is ruled over by “principalities, powers, etc.

Many of the problems we and others face or not “human” or “fleshly” problems, but are spiritual problems, problems that are influenced by the demonic.

Paul wrote the epistle to the Ephesians from Rome, where he was under arrest.

Even though Paul had grown up in the Roman empire and was more than acquainted with Roman soldiers, here in his prison he lived up close to soldiers and their armor.

We might see Paul painting a picture exclusively of Roman style armor, but to be honest, some of his thoughts are actually drawn from a prophet Isaiah, speaking of what God is clothed with when He fights His enemies –

(Isaiah 59:17 NKJV) For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak.

Back in Ephesians … Paul goes on to describe our spiritual armor.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

I will not go into great detail on these items (that would take a couple of weeks to do). If you want to see my notes from 2005 when I went into a bit more detail, go to the church’s website and look for the Library, and then the “Bible Study Library 1994-2019”, then click on “Ephesians”.

(or click on this link)

https://bstudy2.calvaryfullerton.org/49%20Eph/Index.htm

1. Belt of truth

The belt is what holds all the soldier’s armor in place.

Truth serves that function for us.

It involves the truth in God’s Word – who Jesus is, what God is like, how we can know God.

I believe it also involves the truth about things in our lives.

Illustration

Can you tell which of these statements is true?

1. If the entire population of China jumped up and down at the same time, the earth’s orbit would be disturbed. (false)

2. Welding while wearing contact lenses will cause the lenses to stick to your eyeballs. (false)

3. Some Oregon highway workers blew up a whale and showered the town with whale blubber. (true)

4. Bubble Yum bubble gum is made with spider eggs. (false)

5. You can tell if a big operation is underway at the White House by the level of pizza orders that come from there. (false)

How did you do?

These are all mostly silly things that don’t really have any impact on our lives, but there are plenty of things in life that do have an impact on us.

Illustration

Psychologist Chris Thurman wrote,

Truth is the road map for negotiating the difficult challenges of life. Without it we get lost and we develop emotional problems that tell us we’re lost. We often settle for half-truths or no truth at all because they are usually easier. But truth is the only road to emotional health. There is no other path.

Sometimes we have a hard time accepting the truth of things. We hide from the truth; we distort the truth.

Paul wrote,

(Ephesians 4:15 NKJV) but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—

Truth is what helps us to “grow up”. We aren’t going to do much growing in life until we learn to embrace the truth.

Truth holds everything in place.

2. Breastplate of righteousness

The breastplate is what covers the soldier’s heart.

Satan wants to attack us through guilt, shame, and condemnation. These things are directly aimed at our “heart”.

Our heart is to be covered by “righteousness”.

It involves the “righteousness” that we receive when we came to believe in Jesus.

(2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

When we are condemned by Satan, we need to draw near to Jesus, confess our sins, and stand in Jesus’ righteousness.

I believe it also involves the “righteousness” of us learning to do the right things, learning to do “good deeds”.

Satan has much less to condemn us about when we are learning to do the “right” things.

3. Gospel Shoes

It’s the Roman soldier’s sandals that take him around the world and into battle.

For us, it’s being ready to go where God wants us to go, and share the good news of Jesus Christ to those around us.

4. Shield of Faith

Faith is learning to trust in someone or something that you don’t see or understand.

There are going to be plenty of times when we don’t understand what is going on in our lives, or we don’t understand what God is doing.

We need to protect ourselves with our “faith”.

We will trust God no matter what.

Job wrote,

(Job 13:15 NKJV) Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

Paul wrote,

(2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV) For we walk by faith, not by sight.

5. Helmet of Salvation

The helmet protects our head, our mind, and our life.

We are protected by our salvation, by our faith in Jesus Christ.

(John 3:16 NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

It may be that some of you watching this video have yet to give your life to Jesus.

You have yet to choose to trust Jesus to pay for your sins.

Jesus died to pay for our sins. He paid a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.

You my friend are in a dangerous situation because when it comes to spiritual battles, you don’t have the most basic of protection. You don’t have a helmet.

Take a moment to pray and tell Jesus that you need Him. Ask Him to be a part of your life. Ask Him to help you in the battle of life.

6. Sword of the Spirit

God’s word is our offensive weapon. Yes, a sword can “block” the blow of an enemy, but it can also cut his head off or pierce his heart.

(Hebrews 4:12 NKJV) For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

When Jesus was being tempted by Satan, He simply responded by quoting God’s Word.

(Matthew 4:4 NKJV) But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

For us, one of the greatest weapons we have against this unseen realm is the Word.

We need to keep reading the Word.

We need to be studying the Word.

We need to memorize the Word.

7. Prayer

Most studies on the “Armor of God” stop with the Sword of the Spirit.

But I believe the verse that follows is every bit a part of our spiritual weaponry.

Much of the battle we fight is fought in prayer.

Prayer is not limited to location.

You can be in Fullerton praying, and God is responding to your prayers by working in Ukraine.

I think the power of prayer can be multiplied when we pray with others.

Jesus said,

(Matthew 18:19–20 NKJV) —19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

It might be praying through zoom or a phone call like we are doing tonight.

It might be with a couple of others, praying over someone on a Sunday morning.

It might be by praying for the requests on the Prayer Chain as they come through, because others are praying at the same time.

These my friends are some of our weapons God has given us to fight this spiritual war.

This week I encourage you to be aware of the unseen realm around us.

We are in a battle, and we need to remember that Jesus has given us all we need to not only survive this battle, but to win it.

You have authority. You have armor. You can do this.

I hope that helps

In Class

Any comments from tonight’s teaching video? Questions?

How are you doing on your daily prayer time? How many days this week did you set time aside to pray?

Can you think of other things that are part of our spiritual weapons?

The blood of Jesus

Fellowship

Being willing to lay down our lives (Rev. 12:10)

Let’s see how we did on our homework. Can you recite the two verses we’ve memorized so far?

(Numbers 6:24–26 NKJV) —24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’

Have you thought about what it means for God to “life up His countenance” oh us?

Your “countenance” is your face, and specifically your “smile”.

I think this speaks of God looking at us and smiling on us.

He not only “sees” you, but He loves you.

What does it mean for God to give us His “peace”?

Did you do the homework assignment of starting a “prayer list”?

May I see it?

Have you learned anything yet by praying for these people every day?

If you’ve been reading with us in our Daily Bible Reading, there have been lots of passages about prayer this week.

Did you see any passages on prayer?

Here were some of mine…

(Deuteronomy 4:33 NKJV) —33 Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?

(Deuteronomy 9:26 NKJV) —26 Therefore I prayed to the Lord, and said: ‘O Lord God, do not destroy Your people and Your inheritance whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

(John 14:14 NKJV) —14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

(John 15:7 NKJV) —7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

This week we are going to start a new memory verse

(Hebrews 13:20 NKJV) Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

Eventually we are going to also memorize the next verse so that this will become another blessing for you…

(Hebrews 13:20–21 NKJV) —20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

– we are going to add to what we did last week:

(Numbers 6:24–26 NKJV) —24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’

Let’s take time tonight and pray for Pastor Caleb, and the events taking place in Ukraine.

He will be boarding a plane soon and making his way home. We expect him to land at LAX around 1pm tomorrow afternoon.