WHY SHOULD WE PRAY?
Pastor Maselo Mosomane
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” Ephesians 6:12
We pray because we have an enemy. Satan is the enemy of humankind. He was once an angel and was always in the presence of God. He led a host of worshippers. Pride exploded his heart and he rebelled against God. He said in his heart; “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” Isaiah 14:13-14
War broke out in heaven against Satan. And “Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” Revelations 12:7-9. Satan was driven out of heaven and cast out.
Satan is no longer in heaven for there was no place found for him and his rebel angels in heaven any longer. He has come down to the earth. Jesus revealed this to John on the Isle of Patmos one Sunday. “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Revelation 12:12. Jesus also testified to His disciples; “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” Luke 10:18.
Satan came down and settled between heaven and earth. He established for himself a fake kingdom up there in the air. This is where he is ruling the world from. His head quarters are up in the air. Although his kingdom is fake; the bible tells us that the kingdom has a more organized army we will ever have to face. Our text of the day informs us that the army has four camps; i.e. principalities, powers, rulers and spiritual wickedness. These forces are arrayed in heavenly place. They fight from a position of spirits but their effect is manifested in the natural realm. The army of the devil is like an air force besieging the world from the sky. This is where he drops his bombs to destroy the earth and all that live there. When he failed to take over the kingdom of heaven, he came down for the kingdom of the earth.
Our text tells us how the battle is arranged. Every government, every department, every province, every municipality, every suburb or rural settlement, every section in a suburb, every household and finally every person walking the earth has a group of demon spirits assigned to rule its or his life. Just like we have a department of health; there is another department of health in the spirit. The two departments work opposite each other. Our department of health is engaged to make people healthy while the spiritual department of health works to make and keep people sick. Our department of finance works to make people have money to run and build their lives. But the department of finance operating in the air has a mandate to keep people unemployed and poor. What shall we say? Every problem we have is the opposite of what our departments are trying to do. Every problem we have in our lives is opposite what we are trying to achieve.
Every government on earth has a spiritual opposition in the sky. Satan is the president of that opposing government. He works through demons spirits to enforce his control over human lives. Can you see this? We are fighting the government for not keeping its promise of a better live for all; we are fighting the local governments for lack of delivery. Other departments are sitting on large sums of money which at the end of the financial year are rolled over without being used. What is the problem? There is money; then why there are no services?
The problem is we don’t know what our problem is. We are ignorant of what’s taking place in the air. We are fighting each other because we see one another as enemies, yet the Spirit has said it so well that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood” We wrestle not against people. People are not our enemies. We have an enemy we don’t see.
You are fighting with your spouse and are planning to hurt him or her. You are busy arranging a secret divorce because you want to share the estate which you made little or no contribution to at all. Little do you know that the poor individual is not your enemy; the enemy is up there in the air influencing your spouse to behave the way he or she behaves towards you. You too are under the influence of a spiritual force. That’s why you treat him or her the way you do because you want to revenge. One thing you don’t know is that as soon as the divorce is over and you ‘got your share and you part ways; the devil leaves with you. The problem continues because you chose to buddy up with your enemy.
Friend; I know you may dismiss this as superstitious. But it is not going to get better because your intellectual analysis judges it as superstition. Things are getting worse and you are ashamed to admit you have lost control and don’t know what to do.
The problem is not your children or the school they attend. The problem is not the guys or girls they hang out with. The problem is the spirits they hang out with. There are spirits assigned to deal with your children. They are dispatched into every place your child will have to go. They hang up there and wait. Some of these spirits have already found themselves hosts. Did you know that spirits have no bodies and as such cannot express themselves fully on this earth without bodies? They go around looking for sponsors. If they find someone who is willing to sponsor them with his or her body, they seize the opportunity and begin to work through him or her.
Friend; you may be that sponsor, your spouse may be that sponsor or both of you. Your children may be other sponsors too. Your friends, your relatives, your coworkers, oh my! Everywhere around you! It is hard for me as a preacher to say this; but the reality around me defies my doctrine. The devil is gaining a landslide.
This is why we must pray. Prayer is no longer an option; it is a MUST. It does not matter how you reason your circumstance; the truth is you are loosing ground. The prince of the air is winning every seat in the parliament of your life, your family, your local and national government.
What is the solution? God said in 2 Chronicles 7:14; “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Jesus reiterates; “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” Luke 22:40.
Our solution is not where we are being looking for it. Our solution is not from the south, the west, the north nor the east. Our solution is UP there. Yes! Our solution is from up where God is. God has a better arrangement. He planned that Jesus should come and conquer Satan and set people free. Do you remember what Peter said that day in the house of Cornelius? The story is recorded by Dr. Luke in Acts 10:38. “…how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Jesus came and became man like you and I. In His body form He defeated Satan by healing the Religious people of the time got jealous and killed Him by hanging Him on the cross. But He rose again on the third day.
It is through this death that He faced Satan in his own territory and stripped him off his right to rule the earth. “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” Colossian 2:15 Satan has no right to rule the earth any more. Jesus has given that right to the church. The church is the legal ruler of this earth. Not only is it the legal ruler; it also has the authority to do so. And it’s authority is backed up by the power of God.
You say; Preacher, if the church has all this legal right and authority; why are we still suffering the things you’ve been mentioning? The problem is you Sir. The problem is you Madame. You are the problem; not Satan. You keep on voting the wrong government into power. Oh that you may understand my point. I am not talking about the government in your parliament; I am talking about the government in the air. The problem will continue as long as you vote for Satan and not Jesus. As long as you vote for the dethroned Tyranny your status quo will remain. You say; no preacher I am not voting for Satan, but your behavior and lifestyle confirms my claim. You vote like it does not matter who rules.
Life in this world is surrounded with thorns and thistle. You are witness to this truth that unless something beyond the scope of this world comes to power, we are doomed. You are right. Nothing inside this scope can bring about change in this world and our lives. Jesus is the answer. He is the Mediator between man and God.
Friend, maybe we should forget for a moment what is happening in the country and focus on what is happening in our lives. As long as we are still skeptic and still debating issues, our marriages and children are sinking. As long as we are still competing with facts, all that we worked for, all that we sweated for is at risk. Why would you be so stubborn even when you are faced with loss of life itself?
Come to Jesus and He will save your life and family. Accept Him as your Lord and Saviour. Oh what a Friend we have in Jesus! Satan is not your friend, he is your enemy, you cannot buddy up with him and end up well. He is out to kill you. He is a thief and a robber. He robbed Adam and Eve of their estate and now he wants to rob you of your life. “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” John 10:10
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