I recently wrote about spiritual warfare in a leaders life. You can read that post here. Today’s guest blogger is Leighann McCoy. She knows about spiritual warfare and has written about it as well. Listen to her wise advice to us as we journey through the battles in the power of Christ!
When your loved ones lose their way, when they take a detour away from God’s best for their lives and leave you grieving, the devil wants to keep you confused about God’s redemptive strategy for them. For he knows how powerful your intercessory prayers are on their behalf! And because you have the authority to break the strongholds that hold them captive, that wicked serpent has to trick you into misunderstanding the mind and heart of God. I’ve discovered that he does this in 3 ways.
1. The devil doesn’t want you to know that God is always hearing and responding to your prayers.
God listens when you pray! Not only does He listen, but He also moves His spiritual forces forward in response to your prayers. Any prayer that is answered is answered first in the spiritual places prior to being “fleshed” out on earth. Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This kind of praying is so powerful that when you speak the words, the powers of hell retreat. My husband shared a message a few weeks ago titled “Fighting Battles of Life.” In it he reminded us that just because we don’t see God working doesn’t mean He’s not working. The walls of Jericho tumbled down after Israel’s armies marched around them. You don’t know how many times God intends for you to march, nor do you know what’s happening behind those walls, but you do know that God is always hearing and responding when you pray.
2. The devil doesn’t want you to know how gentle God is with your loved one.
One of the highlights of this past month was getting to know Jennifer Kennedy Dean. Jennifer led a prayer banquet at Thompson Station Church, and little did I know that God wanted to bless me with a friend and a kindred spirit. Visit www.prayinglife.org to learn more about her great ministry.
Jennifer shared with me that God treats our wayward loved ones like flickering flames. Many people may be surprised to discover that God doesn’t look for opportunities to clobber them! Rather He huddles them, He covers them with gentle protection and nurtures their little bitty flame, being careful not to let it burn out. I absolutely loved this picture of God’s gentleness toward those who lose their way. It reminded me of this picture.
3. The devil doesn’t want you to know how certain he is that God will win when you refuse to give up.
Because the devil knows that God is going to win as long as you are trusting Him, the devil will work overtime trying to drive a wedge between you and God. He will direct your attention to your circumstances and entice you to draw your own logical conclusions. For the devil knows that when you pray with faith believing, his power is rendered null and void. The only thing he can do to keep God from coming through is to convince you that God is not Who He claims to be and that He either can’t or won’t answer your prayers.
All the while God invites you to “trust Him more.” In fact, those are 3 words the devil doesn’t want you to do… “Trust God More!”
To learn more about how you can trust God more, visit www.leighannmccoy.com
Leighann is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is the senior pastor’s wife at Thompson Station Church, Thompson Station, Tennessee, a mother of three, a Lifeway Ministry Multiplier and a writer and speaker. Currently, she serves on staff at Thompson Station Church as the prayer and women’s minister, and is a frequent speaker at women’s events and prayer conferences. Throughout her ministry, she has served in several denominational positions relating to children and women’s ministries. She is the author of nine books, most recently being Spiritual Warfare for Women, published by Bethany House. In addition to her website and personal blog, you can read more about her ministry here.