American Reformation Church Prayer Journal 83
The last two Sundays the American Reformation Church has negotiated through some serious topics as we are pursuing Philadelphia, brotherly love in the midst of our congregation. The first week we dealt with Marxists stoking racial tensions to achieve their political agendas. We examined our soul to see if we had taken the bait and are being manipulated by this deception.
This last week we covered how do we live as Christians when the threat level is rising and the danger is becoming more real. We went through the Bible and history to find out how to fulfill the ethic of “love our enemies” with the call of men to protect and defend women, children, and the lambs of God’s flock.
To connect these teachings with our Wednesday night prayer meeting, let’s see what God’s Word has to say about war, violence, and the prayers of warriors. There was Jehoshaphat’s prayer recorded in 2 Chronicles 20:5–12. The context was Jehoshaphat was facing a vast army from Moab and Ammon. Overwhelmed, he sought the Lord, “O Lord, God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations... We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
Though seriously frightened by the threat, Jehoshaphat called for a solemn assembly, fasted and prayed. Amazingly, he made God great and the threat minimal, which is opposite of most Christians today who make their problems loom large and our God so small.
David before going off into battle prayed for victory and for God to strengthen him for the arduous task. Psalms 144:1, 2 states, “Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle—my lovingkindness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and the One in whom I take refuge, who subdues my people under me.”
David consistently sought the Lord in prayer for battle strategies, and the Lord answered him and granted him victories. From the lion to the bear to Goliath, to the prophetic song, “Saul has slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands” David looked to God to be strong and do valiantly in battle.
We see this major connection between intercession and war when Joshua takes on the Amalekites in battle, while Moses lifted his arms with God’s rod in intercession. When his arms became weak, Israel faltered in battle. When Arron and Hur who also took part in the act intercession helped lift up Moses’s arms, Israel prevailed and won the war. The New Testament teaches “Be strong in the Lord and the power of his might…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:10, 18).
In World War 11, General George Patten called for a chaplain to prayer for good weather as they went from one fierce battlefront, march three days straight to another fierce battlefront to rescue the 101st Airborne that was surrounded by German armies. God answered that prayer and the mission was successful.
The Psalmist reminds us, “No king is saved by the multitude of an army; A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength” (Psalms 33:16, 17).
I’ll conclude with this prayer that took that truth to heart from the Scriptures that Christian soldiers have prayed through the years, “Lord God of Heaven’s Armies (Think Joshua and the Commander of the Lord of Host’s armies), You are my fortress and my strength. You train my hands for war and my fingers for battle. Go before me, scatter the enemy, and fight on my behalf. I do not trust in sword or strategy, but in Your name alone. Give wisdom, courage, and victory—for Your glory. Amen.”
