This is WAR! Here's What YOU Can Do By Heidi Swander Well, we've had nothing but cheery news for you lately, as you may have noticed -- from America becoming a socialist nation http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread204156/pg1 to the widespread and rapid rise of the Emergent Church. From the insidious, infectious popularity of the false doctrine promoted by the best-seller The Shack to deception run rampant so that Twilight -- a movie about vampires for Pete's sake! -- is seen as an acceptable vehicle for gleaning spiritual truth.
We've hit you relentlessly with the sin of our culture, the overturning of our government, and the deception and apostasy in our churches.
Do you feel overwhelmed yet? Maybe a little helpless? Has this question entered your mind recently: "But what can we DO about all this?"
You can PRAY like you've never prayed before. And don't stop. This is spiritual warfare, make no mistake.
Fortunately, we've read the end of the story and we win! However, souls hang in the balance at this point so we mustn't just close up shop and hide in our homes. We must continue to contend for the faith. Often that means getting out there and making our opinions known, voting our conscience, talking to our friends and our church leaders, and writing our representatives. But always it means going into our closets and petitioning our Heavenly Father for His intervention in every situation. Prayer is a powerful weapon against the enemy.
Paul told the Thessalonians to "Pray without ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17). He exhorted the Ephesians similarly in his treatise on spiritual warfare: "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" (Eph. 6:18).
So to help get you started, let me give you a few suggestions on what to pray for:
Pray for our president, his cabinet, our Congress, your state governor and legislature. I Timothy 2:1-2 commands this. This may, to some, seem to be a conundrum for us today. But as Jack Kinsella points out in a recent article regarding Christians in Paul's day praying for Emperor Nero, "Whether Nero wanted to be used by God or not was irrelevant. God used Nero to His purpose. . . so they [first-century Christians] prayed, not that Nero would accomplish HIS will, but rather that God would use Nero like the tool that Nero was in order to accomplish GOD's will." (We addressed praying for our president with Jack Kinsella in the first hour of last weekend's radio broadcast. Hear that program here.) Pray for your pastor. Do you see signs in your church that the Emergent movement is making inroads? Yes, you should speak up, but you should also, and most importantly, pray. Pray that this man who leads your church will stop endorsing heresy (Gal. 1:6-9) and begin preaching the pure, unadulterated gospel of Jesus Christ and teaching biblical truth (I Cor. 1:23-25). Do you have a pastor who already preaches sound doctrine without reservation or apology? Then thank God for him and pray that God will give him wisdom and discernment (Col. 1:9) and courage to continue standing strong against the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:10).
Pray for your loved ones who have been taken in by dangerous deception -- The Shack, Twilight, Todd Bentley and his ilk, or fill-in-the-blank. There's a tornado of spiritual treachery going on within the so-called "evangelical" community, and it is leading the sheep astray. Pray for insight, wisdom, and spiritual understanding for those you care about (Col. 1:9). Pray that God would give them repentance so that they may know the truth (II Tim. 2:25).
Pray for the lost souls you know, that God would draw them to a relationship with His Son (John 6:44).
Pray for Olive Tree Ministries. This is God's work. Ephesians 4:11-14 talks about equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. It says we should no longer be "children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive." Olive Tree Ministries is one ministry that attempts to expose deception in the church and help build up the saints so they can stand strong in the truth. Help us get the word out by praying for us! All ministries are under some sort of attack today and it could get worse. The "Fairness Doctrine" being pushed by the Left could knock out our radio program.
Pray for the Kingdom to come (Matt. 6:10)! There are a lot of things that must happen before that event, but by praying for it, you are asking to get the show on the road, beginning with our own Home-going (I Thess. 4:13-18)!
And remember -- God is in control of all things. The fact that you can go to your Bible and see the lukewarm church, a one-world government, and a global economy in the end-times -- all things our world is being transformed by right now, today -- is proof-positive that God is still on His throne orchestrating all that is happening.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Amen! We cannot respond to most e-mails but all are read.
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1 comment:
I believe in the power of prayer. Enjoyed this post.
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