Selah: Worship in the Midst of Spiritual WarfareExemplo

Worship Invites God to War

How would you feel if someone sat down at your dinner table by throwing themselves in their seat, without acknowledging you? How would your interactions with that person change if they broke out into uncontrollable sobs?

You would be moved to respond in both instances, although no words were relayed. The same is true when we pray.

Although spiritual warfare challenges our belief that God listens, cares, and responds to us compassionately, our relationship with Him shows us differently.

Prayer is communication with God. It is deeply personal and can help us expose our brokenness in the company of a kind Savior. However, it is every bit as powerful as it is personal.

Prayer is the vehicle God uses to save us, deliver us from every stronghold attempting to hold us hostage and heal us from that brokenness. It connects the Body of Christ throughout the world and reminds us that it gives us the power to partner with God on Earth as it is in Heaven.

It’s no wonder the enemy wants to challenge our ability to pray and taint the belief we have in prayer.

Thankfully, prayer encompasses everything from the words we say to the facial expressions and body language we use because the Holy Spirit can interpret it all.

However, prayer is not unilateral or one-directional. Prayer also involves the:

• ability to listen and discern God’s response through the Written Word He’s revealed,
• impressions or unctions He places on our hearts,
• rhema word He speaks through others as confirmation of His Written Word, and
• silence we sometimes meet.

Although it can often feel difficult to move forward when we question whether our prayers are working or not in the face of what seems like defeat, worship invites us to keep believing we serve a personal God who desires deeper intimacy with us in the delight and the difficulty.

David’s prayer life indicates an intimate relationship with God that we don’t see duplicated anywhere else in the Bible. But Jonathan, his best friend, was also an undeniable man of faith.

Jonathan teaches us that we don’t have to be afraid of getting specific when we pray. Jonathan was King Saul’s eldest son, the Crown Prince of his day, and he was entitled to anything he desired.

Yet the biographers often contrast his character with that of his father by showing how much influence he had with God and man, how he could discern God’s movement, and how bold he was in the face of opposition.

During one particular battle with the Philistines, Jonathan took his armor bearer with him to cross over into a Philistine encampment. He wanted to investigate whether or not the Lord would deliver the Philistines into their hands.

It is true that we don’t read a specific prayer here.

However, we do read about a great man of faith who believed that numbers were irrelevant to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. He shared that the Lord can save by many or by few before outlining his plan to grow sensitive to the Lord’s direction.

In 2 Samuel 14:10 (ESV), Jonathan said, “But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.”

He told the armor bearer exactly what he expected the Lord to do to reveal His Will to them. Jonathan trusted that the Lord would show him if it were not the right time for them, as well.

Often, we substitute bold prayers for blanket prayers out of a desire to save our pride in the absence of a favorable response. However, worship reminds us to prioritize God’s Voice, even when it’s unfavorable. When we do, it puts everything else in perspective.

Culture today uses words like “manifesting our destiny” and often promotes magic and witchcraft as a viable way to manipulate an outcome. As children of God, grafted in through the body of Christ, we invite the Lord to renew our minds about His Will and what will benefit us.

When we choose to trust that God has the ability to bring about His Glory and our good, we look to the Creator to discern the future and deny our petitions, even when it takes decades to discern how good that decision was.

Manifestation and magic, by contrast, superimpose our will over His and lead us into rebellion. Remember, the fruit of the Spirit includes patience. Anything that leads us to force our will or manipulate our future is not of the Spirit.

By contrast, trust, dependence, and confidence in God’s plan help us remember that worship invites Him to war on our behalf. Jonathan and his armor-bearer enjoyed success that day. The Lord threw the entire camp into a panic, and the Earth even quaked.

Trust His timing and grow bold in your relationship with the Lord. When you do, the authority you exercise will advance even as your intimacy increases.

Reflection

1. How would you describe your prayer life right now?
2. Have you found yourself praying more bold prayers or more blanket prayers lately?
3. Is there anything the Lord is leading you to pray about with greater boldness?