If you are a True Believer in prayer as a direct line to the God of the universe you know when we pray God’s Will, there is a stamp of approval that guarantees answers, one way or the other . . . If you believe that, then we must pray because we are living in prophetic times, and “the spirit of the antichrist” is rearing his ugly head sabotaging Christianity causing what Scripture calls a falling away (Apostasy—2 Thessalonians 2:2–9) and some departing from the faith due to “doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1). But a note of caution here. There will be spiritual hindrances to prayer as recorded in Daniel 10, so don’t be discouraged when you don’t see an immediate answer. Take, for example, Daniel. He fasted and prayed for 21 days for an answer concerning the times when the vision he saw would be fulfilled, but the Prince of Persia resisted his prayer. You’ll note that it wasn’t the natural Prince but the Principality in the heavens (Ephesians 6:10-12) who influenced the government of Persia in battle with Michael, the archangel . . . Finally when that Principality was defeated by Michael, his answer came through. We must engage in the prayer of importunity recorded in Luke 18:1-8 . . .

The Prophetic Nature of Prayer—Good News!

If you are a “True Believer,” Trusting the “True and Living Lord of Glory,” and not some historically made-up, political version of the Lord being peddled by those who want an authoritarian government, there’s “good news.”

(But first, hear this: The gospel isn’t political. It is neutral on social, civil, and political issues and doesn’t advocate values and policies for any political party or religious affiliation. The gospel stands alone and is focused exclusively on salvation and redemption.)

That good news is encoded and symbolized in predictive prophecy in the original sacred text of Scripture, the Masoretic Hebrew. Regarding these times, it means that the social upheaval that we see in the secular world is a result of corruption in politics, government, and religion. It begins in the spiritual realm with evil intent. Of course, it all depends on whether you believe there is a spiritual realm in the universe where good and evil entities fight for control on the earth. I know it sounds like a science-fiction supernatural thriller but according to droves of Scripture, it’s true.

The “Good News” is God uses bad news and bad times to expose corruption in politics, government, and religion. Likewise to expose “false” Christianity. The reason God exposes it is to reveal the true disciples who are not affiliated with any church and don’t attend church because their faith has been insulted and they “feel” condemned as sinners because they live a normal natural life and feel unwelcomed in many of the churches. They have been dubbed “Nones” by religious media outlets because they are larger than Catholics and Evangelicals in the country. They have become tired of the religious rhetoric that’s irrelevant to their lives. But they are part of the harvest that will rise and become the spiritual warriors who “storm the gates of hell.” They are the followers of the ways of the Lord in the real world, true disciples. So, I believe the first step is to PRAY and then divulge spiritual warfare that causes hateful conflict on the earth. But first, before I get into spiritual warfare, let’s get into prayer. The spiritual soldiers' armor in Ephesians 6:10-17 ends with these words about prayer in verse 18, “With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and petitions for all the saints.”

So please join me in the 365 Prayer Crusade every Monday at 6 PM.

How Prayer Wins 1

It is critical, and if you are a “True Believer,” and a follower of the ways of the Lord, a disciple; the most vital step before casting your ballot is “collective” “effectual fervent Prayer.” James 5:16 (NKJV), “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Let me exegete or unpack the meaning of the text in the context of the passage and broader Scripture . . . There is a guarantee that God will answer that kind of prayer without delay if we have pierced the traditions over our faith and have broken through into the spiritual realm. That is if you believe that there is a spiritual realm.

Here’s another Scripture about prayer that I’ll unpack for you: 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land . . .”

If we have spiritual eyes to see, we know that the Bigger Picture about what is happening in politics, government, and religion is “spiritual warfare” for the soul of the nation . . . Ephesians 6:10-12 . . . According to the collaboration of Scripture, that passage is about “spiritual wickedness” in high places that comes down through governments, politics, and religion, and spills over into society causing upheaval, and hateful violent outbreaks. But the real battle takes place in the heavenlies between the good forces of the Lord and the evil forces of Satan. The winners down here in the natural realm will be determined by what side wins in the spiritual realm. The additional good news is it doesn’t take as many natural people to win spiritual battles because Scripture declares in Joshua 23:10, “One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you.” We don’t need a lot of people. We just need spiritual warriors of faith. Let me give you a scriptural example that paints the Big Picture in Exodus 17, the Children of Israel were trekking to the Promised Land and encountered opposition . . .

How Prayer Wins 2

Exodus 17:11-13

And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Practically, it means we should lift and hold up the leaders who are in the front and center of representing the goodness of God. So, in our 365 Prayer Crusade we ask those who participate to pray every Monday at 6 PM and to set these prayer petitions before you and repeat them in prayer to unify our faith:

1) Pray that God will Unite our Prayers and Meet our Needs; 2) Pray that Good overcomes Evil in our world; 3) Pray for the Leaders in Government; 4) Pray for Leaders in Your State; 5) Pray for Leaders in Your City; 6) Pray for God-Called Anointed Leaders in the Church; 7) Pray for Your Family.

One of the insights in Genesis (the seed plot of the Bible) is the symbolism of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Here’s the point: We have “free will” and the “power of choice” to choose good or evil . . . If we choose good, it will give us a good conscience that has a remedial effect on us and we will become better people by reverencing God and respecting people. If we choose evil, it will corrupt our conscience and we will become callously unredeemable, and hate people who are not like us. But here’s the problem with evil. Evil disguises itself as good like the serpent at the Tree, so spiritual discernment is required to tell the difference. A good analysis that discerns good from evil is like good fruit versus bad fruit which is a character reference, but here’s an easy way to tell the difference: Good constructs life for the better. Evil destructs life for the worse.

SEE YOU IN PRAYER!