A fully-effective prayer ministry must include resisting Satan and his works, says Watchman Nee.
Nee, a great Chinese Christian who died in a Communist prison decades ago, says that "prayer is the best offensive weapon against our enemy".
He suggests in his book Let Us Pray that a complete prayer life should involve three elements - praying for our own needs, praying for the glory of God and the fulfillment of his will, and praying against Satan and his efforts to undermine the work of God in us and the world.
He notes that many Christians pray for themselves; a smaller proportion also pray for God's glory; and even fewer dream of praying against Satan.
I have long been among those who neglected Satan in my prayer life. And yet the apostle John said in 1 John 3:8 that "the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil". Should that not be part of our mission, too?
Nee takes Jesus' story of the widow pleading with the unjust judge to avenge her against her adversary as an illustration of our battle against the evil one (Luke 18:1-8).
The author points out that Jesus clearly contrasts the unjust judge with God. The unjust judge eventually - but reluctantly - agrees to assist the widow but only after a lot of pleading. However, God loves to come to the immediate aid of his children.
We are like the widow, says Nee. On this earth, we are helpless by ourselves - we are vulnerable to attacks from the enemy. But, like the widow, we can appeal for help - our help comes from the Lord.
He suggests that the adversary in the story is just like Satan. He is determined to hurt the widow.
The story closes with Jesus declaring: "And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?" In other words, God will act against the adversary as we pray to him.
Nee says that God has already won the ultimate victory over the evil one through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. But Satan remains powerful in our world until Jesus' return to earth at the conclusion of history.
"The aim of a true prayer touches on not just personal gain," Nee writes, "but more importantly on the glory of God and the loss of the enemy."
He says that the enemy "will do anything which can cause believers to suffer either spiritually or physically, to fall into sins, or to incur loss or damage".
Here are some of the ways he suggests praying against Satan:
Nee, a great Chinese Christian who died in a Communist prison decades ago, says that "prayer is the best offensive weapon against our enemy".
He suggests in his book Let Us Pray that a complete prayer life should involve three elements - praying for our own needs, praying for the glory of God and the fulfillment of his will, and praying against Satan and his efforts to undermine the work of God in us and the world.
He notes that many Christians pray for themselves; a smaller proportion also pray for God's glory; and even fewer dream of praying against Satan.
I have long been among those who neglected Satan in my prayer life. And yet the apostle John said in 1 John 3:8 that "the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil". Should that not be part of our mission, too?
Nee takes Jesus' story of the widow pleading with the unjust judge to avenge her against her adversary as an illustration of our battle against the evil one (Luke 18:1-8).
The author points out that Jesus clearly contrasts the unjust judge with God. The unjust judge eventually - but reluctantly - agrees to assist the widow but only after a lot of pleading. However, God loves to come to the immediate aid of his children.
We are like the widow, says Nee. On this earth, we are helpless by ourselves - we are vulnerable to attacks from the enemy. But, like the widow, we can appeal for help - our help comes from the Lord.
He suggests that the adversary in the story is just like Satan. He is determined to hurt the widow.
The story closes with Jesus declaring: "And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?" In other words, God will act against the adversary as we pray to him.
Nee says that God has already won the ultimate victory over the evil one through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. But Satan remains powerful in our world until Jesus' return to earth at the conclusion of history.
"The aim of a true prayer touches on not just personal gain," Nee writes, "but more importantly on the glory of God and the loss of the enemy."
He says that the enemy "will do anything which can cause believers to suffer either spiritually or physically, to fall into sins, or to incur loss or damage".
Here are some of the ways he suggests praying against Satan:
- As God cursed Satan in the Garden of Eden, so we can ask the Lord to curse Satan under the power of the cross in our current situation;
- As Jesus forbade the demons from speaking, we can ask God to forbid Satan from speaking through the mouths of people around us;
- As Jesus talked about "binding the strong man (Satan)", so "we may ask God to bind Satan and render him powerless";
- We can appeal to God to "destroy (Satan's) work in us, destroy his manipulation over our work, destroy his devices in our environment, and destroy all his works"; and
- We can ask God to rebuke the enemy as the archangel Michael called on God to do against Satan (Jude 9).
Praying against Satan is an extra arrow in our prayer quiver. Let's use it.
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