- True prayers with real value before God are prayers that bring in God’s kingdom and drive out God’s enemy. Such prayers are uttered in ascension with a realization that the target is not man but Satan.
- We need to learn to forget the “bugs” of our problems and go to the source, Satan. We can preach to Satan regarding what the Lord has accomplished for us.
- Praise is the highest work carried out by God’s children. The nature of praise is an offering; in other words, praise comes from pain, suffering, and loss. God desires His children to praise Him through everything and in every situation.
- Prayer is a warfare, but praise is a victory. Spiritual victory does not depend upon warfare, but praise.
THE PRAYER OF WARFARE
The true prayers of God’s people are for His kingdom. You and I may pray for numerous things, but unless the ultimate purpose is for God’s kingdom, those prayers are of no value before God. Prayer is categorically related to God’s enemy. There is a very great conflict in the universe between God and His enemy Satan. We should utter prayers of warfare, on one hand, to bring in God’s kingdom and, on the other hand, to drive out God’s enemy. Once you bow your knees before God, you indicate that in the universal conflict you are standing on God’s side, and you are totally opposed to God’s enemy. All genuine prayers are of a twofold purpose: on the positive side, to bring in God’s kingdom, and on the negative side, to cast out Satan’s power.
God is in the heavens, Satan is in the air, and man is on the earth. The entire earth is under the control of the air, and man is under the control of Satan. The position of prayer is the position of ascension. Genuine prayers are always uttered in the heavenly realm. Mrs. Penn-Lewis once said that one must first see clearly the position of ascension in Ephesians 2 in order to have the fighting prayers in Ephesians 6. All true men of prayer are seated together with Christ in the heavenlies and pray from the throne.
A prayer such as that just referred to is a prayer on the throne, even a reigning prayer. Man’s emotion, temper, flesh, opinion, and grievance need to be thoroughly dealt with in such a case. Whenever we have a grievance or anger, we fall from the heavens to the earth and immediately lose our position of ascension to pray. Thus, we have no way to pray.
All prayers that are expressed in the heavenly realm and from the throne of God are prayers of warfare. He who prays in this way is one who has passed through the cross, resurrected, and ascended. He is on the throne, far above the earth, and is not touched by any earthly thing. The prayers that he expresses from such a realm are prayers that can defeat the devil in the air and bring down God’s authority. This is the fighting prayer.
The target with which we are dealing in our prayers is not man but the devil. All the problems in the church are not with the brothers and sisters but with Satan. The problems in the family also are not with the husband, the wife, or the children but with Satan. The object of the prayer of spiritual warfare is not at all men of blood and flesh but the devil of the spiritual realm. If we are in the heavenly realm, we are able to pray such prayers of ascension, that is, prayers of warfare. Such prayers of warfare are for the driving out of Satan and the ushering in of God’s kingdom.
PREACHING TO SATAN
The Lord has shown us the most effective way to defeat the enemy. What we need to do is to take the covenant, the word of God, and preach to Satan regarding what the Lord has accomplished for us. For example, whenever we were troubled by our temper in the past, we first confessed it, then asked the Lord for forgiveness, prayed to the Lord to help us, and finally made up our mind never to lose our temper again. I experienced this many times. But we should not do this anymore. When our temper is aroused, we should forget it and preach to Satan. Go to the source of the problem—Satan—and preach to him, saying, “Satan, you have been crucified on the cross.” The more you preach to Satan, the more you will be released. I hope that you will give a strong word to the enemy, saying, “Satan, you have deceived me for years. But by reading these messages, my eyes have been opened, and I see that I must no longer be indifferent. Satan, you are not only God’s enemy—you are also my enemy. From now on, I will be absolute for my Lord, and I will never listen to you.”
Do not spend time dealing with your temper or your besetting sin. These things are little “bugs.” Rather, tell Satan, “Satan, I have been distracted for years with paying attention to my temper and to my besetting sin. But now I will pass this on to you. I will not pay attention to these things, but I will pay attention to preaching to you. I don’t have the time to pray about my temper, but I do have the time to give you another sermon.” We all have been deceived, saying, “Oh, my temper and my besetting sin! If I don’t overcome them, how can I be holy, see the face of the Lord, and have the proper church life?” Leap out of your besetting sin and give Satan a sermon.
After you have preached to Satan for a while, you should forget about him. The enemy is subtle. After preaching to the devil for a period of time, you should say, “Devil, I have no more time to preach to you. Rather, I would use my time to tell my Lord how much I love Him. Get away—now is the time for me to enjoy a honeymoon with my Lord.” After preaching for a certain period of time, you must stop and spend your time in loving the Lord, saying, “Lord, I enjoy looking at You and talking to You. Lord, I want to satisfy You, to be one with You, and to stay in Your presence.”
PRAISING
Praise is the highest work carried out by God’s children. We can say that the highest expression of a saint’s spiritual life is his praise to God. God’s throne is the highest point in the universe, yet He sits “enthroned upon the praises of Israel” (Psa. 22:3). God’s name and even God Himself are exalted through praise.
The Sacrifice of Praise
The book of Psalms is full of praises. However, it contains chapters not only of praises but also of suffering. God wants His people to know that the praising ones are the very ones who have been led through trying situations and whose feelings have been wounded. These psalms show us men led by God through shadows of darkness. They were rejected, slandered, and persecuted. Yet God perfected praises out of these ones. Words of praise do not always come from the mouths of the smooth-sailing ones. They come much more from those who are under discipline and trial. In the Psalms we can touch the most wounded feelings, and in the Psalms we also can find the greatest and highest praises. God uses many hardships, difficulties, and slanders to create praises in His people. He causes them to learn through difficult circumstances to become praising persons before the Lord. God does not want men to praise Him only when they are on the mountaintop surveying Canaan, the promised land. God desires much more to see His people writing psalms and praising Him when they “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” (23:4). This is genuine praise.
This shows us the nature of praise in the eyes of God. The nature of praise is an offering, a sacrifice. Hebrews 13:15 says, “Through Him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise continually to God, that is, the fruit of lips confessing His name.” What is a sacrifice? A sacrifice is an offering. An offering means death and loss. The person who offers an offering must suffer some loss. Although praise offered as a result of gain is praise, it cannot be considered an offering. The principle of offering is based on loss. God wants us to praise Him in the midst of our loss. This makes a real offering.
We should not only pray to God but also learn all the more to praise God. As you learn to praise, you will find that there are days in which you cannot gather yourself to praise. On such days you are in pain, total darkness, or dire trouble. How can you praise God on such days? At that very moment, you should remember that Jehovah’s throne has not changed, His name has not changed, and His glory has not changed. You should praise Him simply because He is worthy of praise. At that moment, your praise becomes a sacrifice of praise. Your praise is like the slaughter of your fattest calf.
Praise and Victory
We have seen that our praise is a sacrifice. But there is more. We have to see that praising is the way to overcome spiritual attacks. Satan’s greatest attacks are not aimed at prayers; his greatest attacks are aimed at praise. Prayer is a warfare, but praise is a victory. Prayer signifies spiritual warfare, but praise signifies spiritual victory. Whenever we praise, Satan flees. Therefore, Satan hates our praising the most. He will use all his strength to stop our praising. God’s children are foolish if they stop praising when they suffer under adverse environments and downtrodden feelings. But as they come to know God more, they will find that even a Philippian jail can become a place of songs (Acts 16:25). Paul and Silas were praising God inside the jail cell. Their praise broke loose all the jail doors.
Many times praise works where prayer fails. When you encounter unusual circumstances and problems and are bewildered and feel like collapsing, just remember one thing, “Why not praise?” Here is a golden opportunity. If you offer your praise at that moment, God’s Spirit will operate in you, open all the doors, and break all the chains. We need to learn to maintain this lofty spirit, this spirit that surpasses all attacks. Prayers may not bring us to the throne, but praise surely brings us to the throne at any time. Many people are conscious of Satan’s ferocity and their own weaknesses, and they resolve to struggle and pray. However, we find a very unique principle here: Spiritual victory does not depend on warfare but on praise.
New believers should not think that they have to pass through many years before they can learn the lesson of praise. They should realize that they can start praising immediately. If you believe in God, you can tell the Lord in the midst of your problems, “I praise Your name. You are higher than everything. You are stronger than everything. Your lovingkindness endures forever!” A person who praises God transcends everything. He overcomes continually by his praise.
Praising before Understanding
Today is still the time when we see in a mirror obscurely (1 Cor. 13:12). Although we can see a little of many things, we cannot understand the meaning behind them. Everything will be clear when we go before the Lord on that day. On that day we will see why the Lord allowed [so many] things to happen to us. Therefore, today we must learn to say, “Lord, I cannot understand what You are doing, but I know that You cannot be wrong.” We have to learn to believe and to praise. Today we have to learn to believe that the Lord is good and that He is never wrong, even though we cannot always understand what He is doing. If we believe, we will praise. May God gain abundant praises from His children.
Fellowship Questions
- What does it mean to pray fighting prayers? How can we pray from the position of ascension?
- Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but…against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.” Can you describe how the object of fighting prayers are not our problems themselves, but the enemy behind those problems?
- Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him…because of the word of their testimony.” Can you describe the experience of preaching to Satan?
- According to your understanding, what is the difference between prayer and praise? Have you had an experience where praise was more effective than prayer?
Excerpts taken from Lessons on Prayer, ch. 18; Life-study of Revelation, msg. 38, 46; CWWN, Vol. 48, ch. 16, “Praising”