A PRAYER GOD MUST
ANSWER
MIKE CUNNINGHAM
FEBRUARY 15, 2009
Although there is an awful lot of horrible
evidence of its existence, the vast majority of people are completely blind
as to what is actually taking place all around them. I don’t know about you,
but whenever I attempt to lovingly clue someone in about this awful fact, I’m
usually politely dismissed as being another poor deluded soul. People may not
vocalize their thoughts, but I can sense this is pretty much what is going
through their minds, and so can you. The
fact that there is a fierce unrelenting spiritual war raging throughout the
entire world; a war led by an invisible being and his cosmic forces of darkness
is a reality billions of people refuse to consider. God’s Word describes
their awful plight.
4
“… the god
of this world has blinded the minds of
the unbelievers, to keep them from
seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image
of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4 (ESV)
18
They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of
God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. Ephesians 4:18 (ESV)
Jesus also graphically described the magnitude
of this spiritual darkness.
23 but if your eye
is bad, your whole body will be full of
darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! Matthew 6:23 (ESV)
19
And this is
the judgment: the light has
come into the world, and people loved the
darkness rather than the light
because their deeds were evil. John 3:19 (ESV)
The Apostle John opened his
Gospel by calling attention to this horrible fact of our world being engulfed
in spiritual darkness.
5
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not
overcome it.
John 1:5 (ESV)
Spiritual darkness
has engulfed the entire world since the fall. For instance, consider the
following passages referring to Old Testament unbelievers.
5
They have
neither knowledge nor understanding, they
walk about in darkness; Psalms
82:5 (ESV)
19
The way of
the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know over what they stumble. Proverbs 4:19 (ESV)
You folks know I’m
constantly praising God for having given us His Word which is like a light illuminating our feet so
we don’t stumble as we make our way through this dark sin infested world
on our way to our real home. Did you happen to notice what the primary targets
of those cosmic forces of evil are? It’s contained in the fourth verse of 2
Corinthians four which I quoted a moment ago concerning unbelievers:
4
“…the god
of this world has blinded the
minds of the unbelievers, to keep
them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4 (ESV)
3
For though
we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to
the flesh and using mere human weapons. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are
not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for
the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, 5 [Inasmuch as we]
refute arguments and theories and reasoning’s and every proud and lofty thing
that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away
captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), 6 Being in readiness
to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and
obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (AMP)
3
But [now] I
am fearful, lest that even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, so your minds may be corrupted and
seduced from wholehearted and sincere and pure devotion to
Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 (AMP)
Satan
will do everything he possibly can to prevent people from seeing the light
and learning the truth of the Gospel. Lies, distortions, half-truths, deception,
Scripture twisting and such are his most powerful weapons. They are like Scud missiles locked on the
unsuspecting minds of human beings. He is relentless in his vicious
attacks on our mind. That’s a horrifying reality and the vast majority
of the world’s inhabitants are completely oblivious of it. However, the Bible tells
us about a wonderful event which occurred a little more than two thousand years
ago; the
6
There was a
man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness
about the light, that all
might believe through him. 8 He was not the
light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light,
which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the
world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his
own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born,
not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the
only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him,
and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks
before me, because he was before me.' 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon
grace, John 1:6-16 (ESV).
14
"You
are the light of the world. A
city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew
5:14 (ESV)
Here’s another way of describing
“The Great Commission” and the impact Christians are commanded to have on the
world. We Christians ought to be ashamed of ourselves when we don’t take this
command as seriously as we ought.
47
For so the
Lord has commanded us, saying, " 'I
have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to
the ends of the earth.' " Acts
13:47 (ESV)
15
that you
may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of
a crooked and twisted generation, among
whom you shine as lights in the
world, Philippians 2:15
(ESV)
5
For you are all children of light,
children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 1 Thessalonians 5:5 (ESV)
8
for at one time you were darkness, but now
you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light Ephesians 5:8 (ESV)
Oh how heartbreaking
it must be to Him during those times you and I don’t walk as children of
light. We return to the darkness each and every time we sin, and we ought to be deeply ashamed of ourselves. For
instance, consider those Christians who have not gotten rid of their anger before
the sun went down. By their disobedience they opened the floodgates of their
mind which enabled the evil spirits of bitterness, resentment and hatred to
come gushing in, (Ephesians 6:26-27). You can’t help noticing that chronically
angry, bitter and resentful professed Christians have very little complimentary
things to say about other people, especially Christians. And the demons of
darkness must be applauding their disgraceful witness.
11
But,
whoever hates his brother is in the
darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is
going, because the darkness has
blinded his eyes.1 John 2:11
(ESV)
The Apostle Paul
constantly reminded those early Christians to get rid of the deeds of
darkness and instead put on the armor of light.
12
The night
is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let
us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, Romans 13:12 (ESV).
The divinely inspired
author of the letter to the Hebrew Christians ended it with the following
prayer on their behalf. 20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal
covenant, 21 equip
you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us
that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen, Hebrews
13:20-21 (ESV).
With the help of some
ideas I got from one of my favorite authors, Arthur W. Pink, in his outstanding
Exposition of Hebrews, I would like to elaborate on verse 21 which says: “equip
you with everything good that you may do his will, working in [all of] us that which is
pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen.” There’s a stark contrast in the walk of those who have been blinded by
Satan and are walking in his kingdom of darkness compared to those whom God has
mercifully plucked out of it and placed in the kingdom of light. What I’m about
to say next may appear as though I’m digressing but please stay with me because
I assure you I’m not. We have been blessed to live in a country in which there
are many benevolent people who truly care about each other. Some of them are
professing Christians. They go out of their way to do all sorts of wonderful
deeds for our less fortunate neighbors. Many are involved in soup-kitchens,
emergency shelters for battered women and the homeless. Others generously
donate their time, energy and finances in order to provide free dental or
medical care. Flat tires are repaired, and break lights are often replaced at
no cost to a needy neighbor. All these wonderful deeds are great blessings to
financially strapped people.
Although these men
and women are highly esteemed
by folks in the community, I can’t help wondering how many of them are viewed
by Jesus as those of the ancient Pharisees about whom He said: “that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God,
(Luke 16:15 KJV). “Without faith it is impossible to please him, (Hebrews 11:6
ESV). We must ask ourselves how these so called good deeds are viewed in Gods
eyes. In other words, are their deeds pleasing to His sight? We must evaluate
these good works with the light of His Word. That’s our “rule of thumb,” so to
speak. We must ascertain whether or not they are in conformity with whatever He
has commanded in His Word. If they aren’t, then they are regarded as evil
regardless of the blessing folks received by them. For instance, if He has
revealed something He wants us to do and we don’t do it, that work is evil. “Then I set before
the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups and I said to them, "Drink
wine." 6 But
they answered, "We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our
father, commanded us, 'You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons
forever, Jeremiah 35:5-6 (ESV). The New Testament records the account of Peter
and John rattling cages when they insisted that “there is salvation in
no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which
we must be saved," Acts 4:12
(ESV). They were brought before the council who warned them not to speak
anymore about Jesus. But Peter and John responded by saying: "Whether
it is right in the sight of God
to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but
speak of what we have seen and heard." Acts 4:19-20 (ESV)
This kind of faith is the
exact opposite of what worldly logic and common sense concludes. God often
presents His children with all sorts of difficult challenges to demonstrate to
them the quality of their faith and how much they trust Him regardless of
circumstances. For instance, Larry, Guy and I each spend countless hours
devoted to study and lots of fervent prayer, pleading with Him to help us craft
sermons which we beg Him to turn into a huge blessing for you folks who sometimes
only number a half dozen people such as this morning. I know I speak for each
of these men when I say that we consider it a divinely ordained honor and
privilege to preach the Gospel. We are firmly convinced and you folks have
affirmed our calling that He has equipped us with whatever we need to impart
spiritual truth to you. We know without a shadow of doubt it is He who is
working in us to do His will, (Hebrews 13:21). We also readily acknowledge that
He is the One who inclines and enables us to walk by faith and not by sight
regardless of the number of people who hear our sermons preached.
Another thing I would like to
call your attention to is the fact that the prayer to the Hebrew Christians was
not made on behalf of Christian preachers, but rather to folks such as you. It
was a heartfelt plea to almighty God to “Equip you with everything good
that you may do His will, [He is] working in [each of] you with
everything good to do what is pleasing in His sight.” However, the fact of the
matter is that neither you nor any other Christian, including preachers, can do
this. Even though we may struggle to glorify Him in our every thought, word and
deed and love Him with all of our mind and heart and soul and strength, and
regardless of the fact that His love has been shed aboard in our hearts; we
can’t do this. It’s impossible! Now look carefully at the next two words in
that verse which tells us how we can. They say: “in Christ.” It is only
through Christ that we can do anything which is pleasing in His sight. Apart
from Jesus, we can do nothing! We must humble ourselves before Him and beg Him
to provide us with whatever it is we need in order to do everything He has
revealed through the Scriptures which He wants us to do.
He has taken us out of the kingdom
of darkness and placed us in the kingdom of light. We must always remember that
He has rescued us from being held hostage by Satan and his cohorts. Those
cosmic slime-balls are no longer working in us as they formally were. They
have been evicted and replaced by the Holy Spirit who lives in every child of
the one true God. It is Almighty God Himself who is in us and who is inclining
us to do everything which is pleasing in His sight. This is not something
which comes naturally which even a spiritual giant such as the great Apostle
Paul readily acknowledged. “I
was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came
alive and I died. 10 The
very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing
an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is
holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13 Did that which is
good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me
through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through
the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that
the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I
do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what
I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. Romans 7:9-16 (ESV)
And remember our new nature is
being renewed by Jesus day by day, (2 Corinthians 4:16). We must also test the
spirits with the light of the Word to ascertain who it really is that is inclining
us to do that which is pleasing in His sight. Is it Satan, or Jesus Christ? In
other words, “each of us must work out our own salvation with fear and
trembling, (Philippians 4:12), and not allow Satan to con us into deceiving
ourselves.
Finally, don’t ever forget to
remember that we are in an invisible ruthless spiritual war and we must
fight in it with all of our mind, and heart and soul and, in total dependence
upon the Lord for the strength. We must “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole
armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 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. 13 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.” “In all circumstances take up the shield
of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;”
“praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that
end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Ephesians 6:10-16; 18 (ESV). Those flaming
darts are headed right at your mind. Unless you take up your shield of
faith and extinguish them, they will materialize in your mind with all
sorts of troublesome thoughts such as, “What if,” “suppose this happens” “it’s
too late,” “this will be the end,” “it’s hopeless,” “there’s nothing you can
do.”
Ah but there is. You can take up
your shield of faith and pray up a fierce storm. You can pray in such
a way that God must give you whatever it is you are begging Him for. If might
sound something like this: “Father, You know I’m being bombarded with all
sorts of demonic thoughts by Your enemy. You know they are trying to tempt
me not to trust You in this particular set of awful circumstances, each of
which I know that on the other side of eternity You planned, ordained and
predestined me to experience. These evil spirits are bugging me something
awful, trying to convince me to quit and give up the fight. Why they’re even
trying to con me into believing I should withdraw from fellowshipping with
my brothers and sisters in Christ. The Apostle Paul reminded me there is
strength in numbers and that I should not even consider “...forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as
believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging,
and encouraging) one another,
Hebrews 10:25 (AMP). Those demons are
want me to forget the fact that I’m aware of the fact the Roman solder’s often
locked their shields together to deflect those flaming arrows. But
Father, You know it’s during those times when I’m all alone with my thoughts
that I’m ferociously attacked the most. You also know I sincerely don’t want
to sin against You Father by not trusting You regardless of what’s occurring
in my life; but I’m so weak. Actually, I’m powerless! But we also both know
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Please Father,
please. I’m begging You to please help me overcome this temptation to sin
against You by not trusting You durring this very difficult challenge. I’m
pleading this in the Name of the One You and I know is my great High Priest,
the One who at this very moment is also interceding with you on my behalf.
Amen.”
And Father, I humbly
ask You to please make this message a special blessing to each of the folks who
just heard it preached and to many who may read it later. I also ask this in
the Name of Your Son, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
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