Pray – No Matter What Is Against Us
By Gordon Watt
Think of Daniel. What was against Daniel? The magicians, the king and his enemies. These represented the powers of evil, the allurements of the world, as well as the common foes of jealousy and personal animosity. Yet he prayed through to victory, and the reason why he stood triumphantly against them was that God was bigger to him than all of them.
We cannot be unconscious of the lions in the path of the Christian warrior today. There are satanic powers arrayed against him, worldly enticements forever assailing him, difficulties created by others confronting him. Before these he might well quail and fail in the persistence of prayer were it not that he has with him One whose name is El Shaddai, the All-sufficient.
M’Cheyne of Dundee used to say, “For every look at Satan take ten looks at Christ.” Yes, Christ is living! Christ is reigning! Christ is mighty! Christ is victor! Let us look and keep looking unto Him!
We need not fear Satan, for we are in Christ and Satan is under our feet (Rom. 16:20). We need not be tripped up by the world because it is already conquered. “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
We need not be weakened in the prayer spirit by friends or foes, for the Lord has said that “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper” (Isa. 54:17).
To pray through to the place of a full answer, to do a work for God in prayer that means to stand against all such opposing factors deliberately and persistently – prayer costs that. We must face these things: but to stand is to take up the attitude of victory. Thus to stand is to be at the cross, in union with the reigning Son of God, in partnership with the Holy Spirit.
It is to have no fear of satanic forces, no compromise with the worldly aims, no wrong relationships with others. Joined to Christ, it is to have power to respond to each divine claim in the prayer life and resist each assertion of the evil one.
God’s great need is that we should hold on until opposing forces are beaten back, and the way becomes clear for the fulfillment of His purposes. Such holding on in prayer prevents Satan closing doors, and gives God the opportunity to work.
The present is a testing time for the Lord Jesus and the plans of His Father. He waits to see whether His Word is to be held fast by us, and His exhortations to prayer are to be heeded (Acts 2:42 and 1:14); whether His truth is to prevail against the false teaching inspired by His enemy, and His work of evangelizing the world is to proceed; whether His children are to fight and prevail, His name to be honored, and His return made possible.
He is counting on you, depending on you. He has the power for the work and conflict, for success and victory but you are the channel. Will you fail Him?