Alert and on guard!
In these crucial end-time hours, that’s how we must be. As soldiers in God’s army of prayer, we are in the midst of the greatest battle of the ages. It is the last days’ battle between the forces of darkness and the forces of light. It is a battle for the lives of believers and the souls of lost humanity.
The military and political wars we have witnessed in recent years are a physical manifestation of what is happening in the realm of the spirit. Demonic spirits that have dominated whole nations of people through wicked governments are losing their grip under the assault of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through prayer, the Church is rising up and marching forward with the prophetic words of the Lord:
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
(Matt. 24:14)
As praying saints, we must be ever aware that we are fighting a spiritual war. We must realize that for us, battles like those we’ve seen in Iraq and Afghanistan—battles fought to overturn evil regimes and liberate the people they’ve held captive—do not end when the bullets stop flying and the bombs stop falling. They end only when the way has been cleared in the realm of the spirit for the Gospel to flow freely in those nations.
Until then, we must stay on our knees and keep occupying spiritual ground. We must remain at our posts because only the prayers of the Church can fully win such wars.
Personally, I am happy to do it. I am glad to be a part of this great end-time move of God. But I am also aware that we, as believers, cannot afford to be naïve about the dangers that surround us. We must remember the scriptural warnings that these will be the most perilous times the Church has ever known. These days, we must be more wide awake and sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit than we’ve ever been before.
It is dangerous to doze off in the midst of a battle. So, now more than ever, we must always be mindful to watch and pray.
Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 3:1 – 17
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”