STRONG PRAYERS

 S T R O N G   P R A Y E R S

"...Tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!" James 5:16b

We heard the old timers pray, "In the name of Jesus, we plead the blood of Jesus..." and they got results. They healed the sick, they cast out demons! They routed tornados!

You say, only in Bible times did such things happen. I say, we are still in Bible times! What has changed?

Elijah was a man with human frailties, just like all of us, but he prayed and received supernatural answers. He actually shut the heavens over the land so there would be no rain for three and a half years! Jas 5:17  

When we pray in the name of Jesus, like Jesus told us to pray, it is like cashing a check at the bank. Just as a wife can legally sign her husband's name on a note and make a demand on that account, so Jesus gave us legal right to make a demand on His power. 

When we plead the blood of Jesus, our prayers are strong because the blood is a reminder that it is not our own goodness that makes us worthy to ask. We remember that He paid with His blood to purchase us, to purchase the air we breath and the ground on which we are standing. It conjures images of the dying Jesus, which is more than the devil can stand. That forever sealed his fate as a loser. He can't face the truth--he has to flee and leave us with the spoils!

CASTING OUT DEMONS

[Jesus] commanded the demon, saying, “Deaf and mute spirit, I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!” The demon shrieked and threw the boy into terrible seizures and finally came out of him! As the boy lay there, looking like a corpse, everyone thought he was dead. But Jesus stooped down, gently took his hand, and raised him up to his feet, and he stood there completely set free! (Mark 9:25-27)

Notice that when Jesus or his disciples cast out demons, at first it appears that the situation grows WORSE. If you have had an opportunity to cast out a demon, you have seen this first hand. The demon will try to convince you that it is in control, that it doesn't have to leave, and if you back down or allow fear to replace your standing in Christ, the demon will win. But the reality is, the demon MUST obey and leave, as long as that person wants to be free, and YOU KNOW that "He who is in you is [WAY] greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4)

Take heart, believer. Don't stop praying. It looks like the church is losing the battle for America, but what if the crazy lunacy that has disrupted all of our lives in 2020 is the Devil's last ditch effort to convince us that he is in control, that America belongs to the ungodly.

He is losing control of the media narrative, the government, arts, the economy, and more. Church attendance is down in many places, but what if God is restructuring the churches? What if after this shaking, the western church looks more like the early Church?-- vibrant, authentic and hospitable!

Don't stop praying. Don't stop believing that God will work through the evil to bring something better than you or I can imagine.

Stand your ground! Pray for America!