So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.
–Acts 12:5-7
An Anglican bishop by the name of J.C. Ryle said something that really struck me. He said,
“The saddest symptom about so many so-called Christians is the utter absence of anything like conflict and fight in their Christianity. They eat, they drink, they dress, they work, they amuse themselves, they get money, they spend money, they go through a scanty round of formal religious services one or twice a week, but the great spiritual warfare… its watchings and strugglings, its agonies and anxieties, its battles and contests… of all this, they appear to know nothing at all.”
Ryle, like many Christian leaders I know, is observing the alarming level at which so many people abandon the battle of the Christian life for a tame, easy lifestyle that knows nothing of the great struggle of the faith.
So how do you step into this battle if you’ve been passive for too long? You pray. Prayer is the first and most important weapon in this war because it mobilizes God’s wartime resources in battle against the enemy.
If you want to win in spiritual warfare, step in the battle arena by praying, “God, show me where I need to fight.” Listen to what He says and remember He’ll be right there with you in the thick of battle!
STEP INTO THE SPIRITUAL WARFARE ARENA RIGHT NOW BY PRAYING AND MOBILIZING GOD’S WARTIME RESOURCES TO DEFEAT THE ENEMY!
