God's army

Prayer warriors are God's army in the battle to advance the kingdom of God.

The current movie, War Room, is a reminder that prayer is vital in the battle against the evil one.  The "war room" is the name attached to her prayer closet by Miss Clara, an elderly prayer warrior, who encourages Elizabeth Jordan to fight for her marriage through prayer.

As I picture it, prayer warriors play a role in every aspect of God's plan to advance his kingdom and to defeat satan.  God is our commander and we are the soldiers, the recruiters, the medics.

Of course, there are good Biblical grounds for seeing the mission to spread the gospel as a war against satan and his kingdom.

The apostle Paul tells us as much in that great passage Ephesians 6:10-18.  There, the apostle says:

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

In other words, the real battle is against unseen forces - forces we do not see with our physical eyes.

The apostle John also wrote in 1 John 3:8: "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work."

Of course, as believers, we know that Christ won the victory over satan when he died for us on the cross and rose again, defeating death.  But believers are part of the mopping up action that will climax with Christ's return.

In the Ephesians passage, Paul describes the spiritual armour and weapons with which we are to defend ourselves against satan's attacks.  And he finishes with prayer, calling on us to pray on all occasions.

Here is how I see God's army operating in prayer:

• We seek our marching orders from our commander - God - through reading the word, meditating on it, and listening to the Holy Spirit in prayer;
• We equip ourselves with the spiritual armour described by Paul, including prayer;
• We support our "buddies" on the battlefield with the love of God, praying with them when they face trials;
• We invade satan's territory, praying for loved ones, neighbours and friends that they, too, may enter God's kingdom and escape the devil's grasp;
• We care for the wounded through healing prayer, just as medics do on the battlefield; and
• We seek recruits (through prayer) for God's army among those believers who are on the sidelines.  As Jesus said, we need more labourers for the rich harvest around us.

I have been captivated by this image.  For me, God's prayer warriors are esssential to God's work in our world.