Tag: Scripture prayers

HOW TO STAND FIRM AGAINST AN UNSEEN ENEMY

What does it mean to stand firm against an unseen enemy? Who is my unseen enemy? Ephesians 6:10-13 states, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” You cannot withstand against evil spirits in your own strength. Many of the girls in my County Jail Bible study say they are determined not to return to drugs and alcohol. But sadly, those who did not commit their lives to God and rely on Him for strength return several months later. The devil is always seeking to tempt us to depend on ourselves or an idol instead of God.

How We Have Strength To Stand Firm

Memorize Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” God strengthens those who abide in Him as a branch abides in the vine and receives strength from the vine. John 15:5 states, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” We stay connected to the Spirit of God (the vine) through praying, praising, and pondering scripture. To abide means to stand fast, remain, dwell, or remain attached to something. Abiding with God includes memorizing Scripture passages, praying about everything with thanksgiving, and loving Him and others by serving them (Gal. 5:13-14 and Deut. 11:13).

It is worth repeating; the devil’s strategy is to separate you from God, who is your strength. The devil used this strategy when he tempted both Eve and Jesus, and he hasn’t changed. Eve did not take the tempting thought captive to disobey God, and humanity is still suffering the consequences. Jesus was victorious over the devil’s lies by taking the tempting thoughts captive and using Scripture to defeat the devil. Because Jesus defeated the devil and did not sin, now we can enjoy the benefit of life through righteousness in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:11).

The more Biblical truth you know, the stronger spiritually you will be. For example, Satan puts a deceptive thought into your mind that you are weak, and God won’t help you. What do you do? You can believe the lie and live a defeated life. Or you can command the lie to be gone from your mind in Jesus’ name and speak the truth that you can do all things through Christ, who is your strength (Philippians 4:13). I can’t possibly list all the lies the devil will put into your mind. But if you memorize the truths in God’s Word, you will recognize the lies of the enemy.

Examples of God’s Power in The Old Testament

Exodus 14:13 states, “And Moses said to the people, ‘Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.’” Fear causes you to run away to escape a threat. No matter what you are facing now or are going to face, God is bigger and can work a miracle in your life, but you must stand firm in His strength and on His truth.

Another great Old Testament example is the story of King Jehoshaphat, who was outnumbered by his enemy. He humbles himself before God and seeks His help. God tells Jehoshaphat in  2Choronicles 20:17, “You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow, go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.” I don’t know what battles you are facing or will face, but I know God is for you, not against you. I memorized Isaiah 41:10, which states, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” I spoke this truth out when I was going through a tremendous battle at a previous job. Reminding myself of God’s truth helps me stand firm against the unseen attacks of the unseen enemy.

How to Stand Firm

1Corinthians 16:13 states, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”  1Corinthians 1:24b also tells us to stand firm in our faith. We grow stronger in our faith when we read God’s Word (Rom. 10:17). You can’t stand firm against the unseen battles of temptations and deceptions without the knowledge of the truth. The belt of truth and the rest of the armor of God help you stand firm in your faith. Ephesians 6:13 states, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” But you have to put it on every day through prayer. See the post called PUTTING ON THE ARMOR OF GOD PRAYER MODEL.

Galatians 5:1 states, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” The devil does not want us to be free from our passions, immoral and impure thoughts, greed, coveting, anger, etc. He wants to keep us in bondage to our sin, but we are to stand firm by submitting to God, not the devil’s temptations and lies. James 4:7 states, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Read my post HOW TO DESTROY THE DEVIL’S WORK IN YOUR LIFE to know how to stand up to the devil and make him run.

Conclusion

This following Scripture passage clarifies what the devil does and what we need to do not to get devoured. 1Peter 5:8-9a states, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith.” Many Christians do not resist and are defeated by the unseen enemy. If you are a victim of the devil and allowed him to put you in bondage again, Jesus wants to set you free again, look up and pray for His help and strength to get out of the pit. Psalm 40:2 states, “He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.” Memorize all the Scripture verses in this post so you can remind yourself to be watchful and to resist the wrong thoughts the devil puts in your mind and stand firm in your faith.

All verses are from the English Standard Bible. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share the links with your friends and family, hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected, and no part of the posts or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website. 

If you find this website helpful, you will benefit from the latest book. You can order Breaking Mental Strongholds on Amazon. Also, check out my book called Fighting Unseen Battles on Amazon. I would love to hear what you think. To learn more about my book, read: How to Fight Unseen Battles.

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, salvation for non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.

Image by Lorraine Cormier from Pixabay

How To Pray From The Answer

Is there a proven formula to get answers to prayers? I did some research to find out what God’s Word says about prayer and wrote a series of posts which you can read here. In this post you will learn how to claim God’s promises by faith and how God answers these prayers.

Do you struggle with knowing how to pray or what to pray? Prayer is by faith (from our spirit through the Holy Spirit) for what we do not see and to draw close to God, who is the Almighty Spirit. The neatest revelation I discovered is that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, even when we don’t know what to pray. Romans 8:26-27 states, “Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” How cool is this revelation?

Praying scriptural prayers keeps me focused and increases my faith because I know scripture is the will of God. Likewise, God’s promises are also His will, and He said in 1 John 5:14-15, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him (God), that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” The key is to pray by faith the promises of God from the Word of God. Every time you read your Bible, turn the scripture into a prayer for your life and for other people.

Recently, I have been praying the scriptural prayers in the book called A Watchman’s Guide to Praying God’s Promises by Dick Eastman. You can download a free electronic copy at www.EHC.org. In the introduction on pages 12-14, Dick shares a story about Armin R. Gesswein, Founder of Revival Prayer Fellowship, Inc. Armin met an elderly man who seemed to enter the presence of God every time he prayed. When Armin asked the man to share what his secret was in praying. The man said, “Young man, learn to plead the promises of God!”

Armin writes, “As the old chorus declares, prayer is the key to heaven, but faith unlocks the door. There must be faith! Where does that faith come from? It comes from hearing…the Word of God.” Romans 10:17 states, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Armin said the elderly man would plead God’s word and promises like a lawyer does his case. He encourages the readers to make the Bible our prayer book.

Dick writes, “Promises predict the answers. They are the molds into which we pour our prayers. They foretell what to expect.  They shape our praying. They motivate, direct, and determine our supplications.” He says, “In a real sense, we pray from the answer…with the answer in mind…this is the way of faith.”

I have written several posts about how I have prayed the promises of God and seen incredible answers. Many times, the answer did not come right away, sometimes several years later. Keep praying God’s promise. Read Jehoshaphat’s Prayer in 2Chronicles 20 to learn how God heard Jehoshophat’s prayer because he claimed God’s promises. Claim God’s promises in Psalms 23 and 91 often. I encourage you to visit my scriptural prayer page to begin your journey of praying God’s promises.

One word of caution. God has given us a free will. We cannot pray for God to change the will of another person. But keep praying God’s promises over them until they choose to submit to God. Claim the promise that God can do immeasurably more than all you could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). And claim His promise that His word will not return empty but will accomplish His desires and purposes (Isaiah 55:11).

Second word of caution. Make sure you have repented of your sin of doubt and any other areas where you are disobeying God’s instructions. James 4:8 states, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” And, 1 John 1:9 states, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If you do not confess your sins and receive forgiveness, God will not listen to you. Read Psalms 66:18 and Isaiah 59:1-2.

The prayer promise, I am claiming for our world is that God opens the heavens and rains down His righteousness on the earth, and salvation and righteousness will spout up and bear much fruit on the earth (Isaiah 45:8).

I claim the promise by faith for the lost souls of this world that God’s light shines in their hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).

As far as who will be the leader of our country, the Bible says in Psalm 75:7, “But God is the judge; He puts down one and sets up another.”

Related Posts:

15 Promises We Can Trust God to Keep

Trust God to Keep His Promises

HOPE: How it Motivates and Inspires BUT God’s Sovereignty…

Pt. 2: Why You Can and Cannot Trust God? 

The scriptures in this post are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please send a link to your friends and family. Hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected and may not be reproduced without permission from Joyce Hanscom.  You can contact me by emailing hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com.  P.S., seeing lasting change your life depends on having a right relationship with God the Father through believing His Son Jesus Christ and obeying His command to love (1 John 3).