The Power of Prayer

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”—2 Corinthians 10:4

We inhabit two worlds: the world of flesh and the world of spirit. We are of flesh. We are tangible bodies that smell, taste, touch, see and hear. We experience pain and pleasure, and it is through our experience with the physical world that we know we exist. But we are also spirit. We think, experience emotion, dream, love, hate and hurt. And these feelings or experiences are not in the realm of the physical, but the spiritual, and these two realms are often times inseparable. Although we live in a physical realm, our spirits tell us that we were made for something more. We can see the unification of the two most fully in the person of Jesus Christ. He is Spirit, and He is flesh. He became like us in the incarnation (see Philippians 2:5-8) and we will become like Him in the consummation (see 1 John 3:2). After our death, or when Christ comes again (whichever happens first), we will receive glorified bodies like Christ’s after the resurrection. What this exactly means no one knows, except God. Whatever the case may be, we are at present, as C.S. Lewis described, on the “outside of the world, the wrong side of the door.” But we wait because one day we know we shall “get in,” that is, when we shall be brought into the Kingdom of God in all of its splendor and glory where we will worship the Lord forever and ever.

As we live during this time of the in-between—the “already/not yet” rule of our Savior (He is ruling in our hearts now, but the full realization or actualization of that reign is still yet to take place), we battle on in this house of clay that contains our spirit. We pray, not from the flesh, but with our spirit (1 Corinthians 14:15), in the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:18), as the truth of God is brought home to our spirits through the Word of God and prayer. We must be reminded of the truth found in Ephesians 6:12: 

“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.”

We are in a battle and the terrain of this battle is heavenly. Though we live in the flesh, we are transported to the heavenlies when we bow the knee in prayer. The battle wages on in the spiritual realm, overflowing in many unseen ways into the physical realm. Satan’s kingdom is of this world—the world in which we find ourselves currently living (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11; 1 John 5:19). But Jesus has defeated Satan, and although he continues to bite, his teeth have been removed. Satan still vainly tries to maintain his hold on the world, but God’s kingdom has broken through and the full culmination of that rule will be seen when Jesus Christ comes again in all of His power and glory.

Prayer is the weapon that enables us to battle the heavenly forces. And through the weapon of prayer we are able to demolish strongholds. We assume our place in the battle as soldiers waging warfare on our knees, asking God to transform hearts and minds, give victory over sin, and rescue those who have been captured by the enemy. Prayer is powerful, like a Weapon of Mass Destruction. It is a weapon that cannot be stopped. It cannot be contained. It can reach to the farthest places of the world and beyond. It’s greater than any satellite signal or calamity of man. Prayer is the hotline to the power and presence of God. We have a signal through Christ and He can hear us; we simply need to bow down and pray to Him, allowing Him to do what only He can do: glorify Himself, and transform hearts and minds by the power and to the glory of His wondrously great name. Amen and Amen.