28 Day Journey-Day Two
Tuesday 12//06//052 The Fight
In case anyone has forgotten, we're not on blissful stroll through life. We are in a fight. And it's not just some small conflict, either. We are in a war, a spiritual battle that rages all around us, darkness contending against light, and you and I are in the thick of it everyday whether we want to be or not. It is as Paul warned, "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:11-12
The more we seek the cause of Jesus, the faster we find the fight. That's why it came as no big surprise to me when Blogger.com (our home for the 268Blog and these Prayer Journey posts) crashed late Monday afternoon. While I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation for why the site failed, I also feel we at Passion should have given fair warning to all the bloggers at Blogger.com that we were launching the Passion06 prayer focus on Monday so they could have anticipated a service outage.
No, we're not filled with spiritual paranoia, looking for the enemy behind every shadow and blaming each bump in the journey on some grand demonic scheme. But we have been at this for a while, and when major passion gatherings are on the horizon strange things happen. Trust me, we know we are in a fight (we have suffered costly loss), but we are not afraid. Realistic about the battle-yes. Scared to move forward-absolutely not! God is with us and He is our defender. That doesn't mean that we will escape the fray without wounds, (see Paul's life) but that we are convinced that "Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world." 1 John 4:4
That's why the 28 Day Prayer Journey exists. We cannot go it alone and would be fools to proceed without fighting on our knees.
Today's prayer:
Father, You alone are our Shield and Defender. Your name, O Lord, is a strong tower; the righteous run into You and find shelter. We know that we are in a raging battle today, a fight for Your glory and grace. And we know we are filled with the Light of Jesus Christ.
We ask not that You remove us from the conflict, but that You cover us in Your care and demonstrate Your greatness no matter what comes our way. Our lives, and Passion 06, are in Your hands. Our trust is in You. In Jesus' Name and the power of His blood, Amen.
All through the day: Defend us as we lift up Your name.
posted by 268gen at
11:43 PM
10 Comments:
Praying with you and for you on the 28 day journey to passion 06
By
gail, at 12/06/2005 3:08 AM
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steph, at 12/06/2005 4:35 AM
amen! great thoughts, thanks for sharing. this post also reminds me of John Eldredge's book, "Epic." He reminds us of how there is an epic battle going on and how we all need to embrace our role as God has called each of us to a greater and grander purpose. It's always a challenge, but it's good to find encouragement in one another as we maximize our role for God by living it out fully for His Kingdom's work!
By
steph, at 12/06/2005 4:37 AM
Amen! This is a great reminder of what we are up against. Just as we were always told in the Faith Evangelistic program at my church, the enemy does not want us going out and trying to win souls over for Christ. Thank you for this prayer for me as well. Although I always ask for God's armor of protection every day, I do need to realize that it does not keep me from having conflicts or even being in the midst of a battle, but that He will see me through it..and He has done that every time. Let us remember Paul's words in Romans that none of these things mentioned will keep us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
By
Donna, at 12/06/2005 6:26 AM
i think this is awesome you started a prayer journey for Passion 06! Ever since i left Passion 05 i've been praying that God would work in hearts in the same amazing ways in 06. i'm confident He will. i'm looking forward to coming together with thousands of believers who have also been praying for God's renown to be seen at Passion 06 for weeks.
You guys hang in there! Satan definitely wants to shut you down bkuz God wants to use this gathering. You're blog today was right on!
By
patrick mitchell, at 12/06/2005 9:43 AM
Amen, oh God let us be Barbarians, and look like those men and women that You used so mightily in the new testament. We can be a people living in abandon to God if we would only trust Him utterly and completely. Press on, fight the good fight.
By
Anonymous, at 12/06/2005 11:44 AM
Lord, you are great and Your name is to be praised! Thank you for Your constancy . . . You are our rock, never-ending, firm beneath our feet. God in the midst of battle, remind us to trust in You, for we cannot fight this on our own! Remind us that the battle has already been won!
Father, place a hedge of protection around Louie and the rest of the Passion team. As they prepare, and as they lead us to Your mighty throne, the enemy will attack. We pray in the name of Jesus that You are their strength and shield.
And Father, for those of us that will be attending . . . as the time draws nearer, there will be distractions and hurdles, help us to keep our eyes on the prize.
For Your name and renown!
By
nlqeric, at 12/06/2005 1:30 PM
If you are attending I encourage you to follow this prayer journey if you can't come...intercede with us on behalf of the thousands that will be attending.
This will be my first and I am so excited to be going. It is when we come with an expectation that we receive God's best, and it is no different with this conference. It was the blind man's expectation that healed him as well as the lady with the issue of blood.
Father, we are expecting mighty things to happen for these 4 days with only you and your kingdom as our agenda. You are so awesome!
By
Jason, at 12/06/2005 1:55 PM
I can't make it to Passion '06, but was at Passion '05 and will be at Thirsty '06. I'm not a student. I'm a pastor. I love the Lord with everything i have and with everything He gives. His renown is the desire of my soul and the motivation of my life.
I pray with you that there will be much more than words exchanged, songs sung, and promises made during this conference. Last year's conference both challenged and encouraged me in many ways. But amidst the joy; amidst the truth; amidst the presence of God; i'm still a slave. I struggle with "putting on the armor of God". I've tried everything i know... studying His word, praying and meditating daily, involving myself in the work of the local church, stepping out in faith to start a new church in an unreached center-city area, even opening myself up to the accountability of other godly men. But apparently, i haven't put on enough armor, because i'm still not walking in freedom from lust. I struggle with it often. And i give in to it. I can't seem to beat it. I've trusted God to do it in me, and to keep me from temptation, but that simply hasn't happened.
I don't have the strength to fight sin 24/7/365. I just don't. Of course i don't. But God does, right? So if i'm depending on Him, and still stumbling over the same sin, over and over, then where else can i turn?
His grace is enough to cover my sin and to give me peace and joy in the midst of war and pain. But is it enough to actually keep me from sinning the same sin, over and over? If my will isn't enough, and His grace isn't enough to do that specifically, then what hope is there? Am i missing a piece of armor? Do i just lack faith?
Trust me, i've believed awfully hard for an awfully long time, genuinely believed. But one can only believe something so long when it doesn't prove itself true.
Here's my prayer for those of you who understand where i'm coming from:
"God, release the captives from their prisons. Show yourself faithful and true, despite the walls and chains. Change us, O God, that the world might see your power displayed in every corner of our lives. Help us when we are too tired to help ourselves.
Catch us. We're falling."
--"Oh go away, waging war of sin."
By
Beloved, at 12/07/2005 1:10 PM
Thank you, psalmsgirl.
By
Beloved, at 12/07/2005 3:39 PM
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