THE BATTLEFIELD OF PRAYER


A. "MEN OUGHT ALWAYS TO PRAY, AND NOT TO FAINT" - LUKE 18:1
  1. This admonition by our Lord is of special significance to God's people:
    1. It emphasizes the prayer life
    2. The emphasis comes from one who knew well its implication - for He was, while on earth, the man of prayer
  2. Take a prayerful look into the prayer life of the Captain of our salvation:
    1. Follow Him to the lonely mountain side and observe in an all-night season of agonizing prayer - Luke 6:12
    2. Go into the Garden of Gethsemane and note how the Redeemer of fallen humanity fights His greatest battle with sin and Satan on His knees - Luke 2:40-44
B. THE BATTLEFIELD OF PRAYER
  1. "Men ought always to pray, and not faint"
    1. Prayer itself reveals man's dependence on a power outside of Himself
    2. Said Jesus, "For without Me ye can do nothing" - John 15:5
    3. The admonition of our text makes prayer the great channel of power to fight the battle of life - Ex. 17:8-11
  2. The devil and sin have made man's life a battlefield from the cradle to the grave:
    1. The Son of man experienced this fact from the day of his birth to the day of His resurrection - Matt. 2:8-14; Heb. 2:14-17
    2. Scripture warns us against Satan's viles and which are aimed at God's people - I Peter 5:8; Rev. 12:12, 17
    3. Experience shows that shin has made our life a battlefield; there is warfare within and without - Rom 7:23; Eph. 6:10-18
    4. Paul, that mighty warrior for God, speaks of "our warfare" - 2 Cor. 10:4
  3. Some mighty reasons for persistence in prayer:
    1. Prayer connects us with God our great and only Helper - Jer. 33:3; Ps. 91:1-7
    2. Prayer helps us to realize our dependence upon God - Ps. 121:1-8
C. IT IS IN THE FIELD OF PRAYER THAT LIFE'S CRITICAL BATTLES ARE LOST OR WON
  1. Note, please, what Jesus Christ, the Man of Prayer, says about the part prayer plays in the battle of life:
    1. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" - Matt. 26:41
    2. "Howbeit this kind goeth not out - (demons) but by fasting and prayer" - Matt. 17:21
    3. "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have thee, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" - Luke 22:31-32
  2. The apostles emphasize prayer as a mighty weapon in the battle of life:
    1. "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" - Eph. 6:18
    2. "Strive together with me in your prayers to God for me" - Rom. 15:30
  3. Look into the history of the early experience of the believers:
    1. Peter was delivered through constant prayer by the saints - Acts 12:1-18
    2. Paul and Silas prayed and a mighty miracle took place in prison - Acts 16:25-34
    3. Note what happened at a prayer meeting - Acts 4:24-31
  4. In closing let me note that it is in the field of prayer that life's critical battles are lost or won:
    1. We must conquer all our circumstances there - in prayer we bring our enemies into the presence of God and we fight them there. Have you tried that?
    2. We must conquer all our troubles there; "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him; to all that call upon Him in truth. . . He will hear their cry and save them" - Ps. 145:18-19
    3. Finally, prayer is at the disposal of all without money or price; all may use this God-given weapon in the great battle of life - Rom. 10:13


Design © John Bryant 2011