PRAYER ROOMS

• 9am – Tuesday, online only

PRAYER GUIDE

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 24: 36-51

As we celebrate the season of Advent, it is appropriate to consider one of the great and glorious doctrines of our faith. Jesus is coming back and could come at any moment. His first coming was shrouded in humility and obscurity. His first coming was meek and mild. His second coming will be unmistakable. As Philippians tells us, on that day “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” 

The Lord spoke often about his return. He told us essentially three things about it. First, at his coming, there will be accountability. Accounts will be settled. As the Creeds say, he will come to judge the living and the dead. Second, his coming will be sudden and unexpected. Even though we know he is coming sometime, and the church has known this for 2000 years, Jesus gives us this promise: “the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.” And because of these two realities, Jesus told us a third truth about his coming, or rather, how we must prepare. We must be ready. The word he uses is “keep watch,” or gregorao in the Greek. It refers to the alertness of a soldier or night watchman standing on guard or a shepherd keeping watch over the flock. 

What has been lost in our moment is often the awareness of the possibility that Jesus might return at any time. This may be due to many factors. Many have tried over the years to predict the day or the hour of Jesus’ return. I remember during the year 2000 there were many fringe (or not so fringe) groups that were certain the Lord was coming back when the ball dropped that year. They stored up freeze dried peaches in their closets and ammunition… as if somehow that would protect them from…who exactly? And so as much as we don’t want to repeat the mistake of misguided sects and cults and churches, what we cannot do is lose the clear teaching of our Lord that he might come back at any moment and therefore we need to be ready.

What does it mean to be ready exactly? Jesus illustrates this In this parable, the master has set a servant in charge of his possessions until he returns. In one scenario, that servant remains faithful to the task and receives commendation for doing his job. But in the other, the wicked servant does several things. First, he assumes the master will not be back for a long time. And it is this assumption that leads to his other unwise activities. He begins using his power inappropriately (beating the other servants under his charge) and eating and drinking with drunkards. 

And before we get too critical of this wicked servant – let’s take a look in the mirror. The church in our time is in danger of these same mistakes. We have lost sight of the fact that the Lord is coming and may come soon. And if he did, would we be ready? How would we feel about how we are spending our time? How have we been treating other fellow servants? Have we lost track of our assignment and given ourselves to eating and drinking instead? The reality is that like this servant, the church has lost touch with the truth that Jesus is coming and could come today. If we really thought the Lord could come today, let’s be honest…we’d live differently. The reason the Church has a season of Advent in its calendar is to help us not to lose sight of this vital doctrine of the faith. In many ways the return of Jesus is like a compass that keeps us pointing in the right direction.

When the church recovers this vital truth that Jesus could come at any moment and we therefore need to be ready…to settle accounts…to make things right with God and others…to live as though we will be held to account, it leads to revival.

God gave me a calling in the year 2008. A clear calling. When I shared it with others around me, however, nobody really understood it or gave me much positive encouragement. Because of this, rather than go against my supervisors or my organization’s vision, I took the assignment God gave me and sat on it. I buried it in the ground. Seven years later, I shared about this assignment from God with a friend and mentor – and he said this. “Greg, God has given you a calling. A seed of his own heart. Luckily, you haven’t killed it. But you haven’t exactly been faithful to this assignment either. And one day, Jesus is going to judge you. He loves you as his son, but he will also hold you accountable and ask you what you did with what he gave you. And you need to think about that more than you think about what the other people around you are saying or thinking about your calling.” As frightening and sobering as his words were, they were exactly what I needed to be liberated from the fear of man and to say yes to a calling that didn’t make sense to the people around me. 

Essentially, my friend helped me reorient my life around the coming of Jesus. And this was a key factor in bringing a season of revival to my life and the lives of others. In some ways, every revival is a mini coming of Jesus that anticipates his final coming in glory at the end of the age. 

For Reflection:

How often do you consider the reality that Jesus is coming back and could come at any moment? 

If you knew the Lord were coming back in a week? How would it change your activities or priorities? 

If the Lord were to return tomorrow, how ready would you be? What would need to happen in your life in order to be ready? What would need to stop? What would need to start? 

For Prayer:

Ask God to help the church, beginning with Sanctuary, to recover its conviction that the Lord is coming back and may come any time. Ask God to help us live now in light of that truth. 

Ask the Spirit to bring clarity to activities or priorities that need to change in light of the imminence of Jesus’ return.

Ask the Spirit to stir up in us a sense of hope and expectancy for Jesus’ coming, either bodily in glory at the end of the age, or by pouring out his Spirit in revival.

PRAYER ROOMS

• 9am – Tuesday, online only

PRAYER GUIDE

16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Ephesians 6:16-20

Having given us his mental roadmap, a battle plan based on Christ’s victory, and having commanded us to take up the full armor of God. Paul here instructs how we are to engage in spiritual warfare. Take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. It is not the only time in scripture that the word of God is likened to a sword. The author of Hebrews writes: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.” (Heb 4:12). Likewise in John the Seer’s vision of Jesus riding the white horse in Revelation 19, a sword came out of the mouth of Him Whose Name was the Word of God. 

The word of God is therefore a sword. It is a weapon of war, in addition to all its other uses. It is our only weapon for spiritual warfare. The truth of God is the primary implement for spiritual warfare against the enemy and all his schemes and methods. This of course, is what we see in the case of Jesus Himself, who in his forty day wilderness fast faced direct temptation from Satan. Jesus’ strategy was not to oppose the devil in his own authority, but to literally quote scripture to Satan. Jesus chooses the same passages of scripture which were given to Israel during their forty years of wilderness wanderings. 

Satan’s primary weapons of war are lies, being the father of lies (John 8:44). Our primary weapon must, therefore, be God’s truth. There is nothing so powerful and effective in our prayers as laying claim to the oracles and promises of God. 

What do we do with the word of God? We pray it…in the Spirit. Or, we might say as well, we pray the word by means of the Spirit. The Greek here is a dative of instrumentality. We wield the sword of the Spirit by means of the guidance and leadership of the Spirit. If you have ever seen Star Wars, the idea here is strikingly similar to that of a Jedi knight who wields a lightsaber by the power and guidance of the Force. Such a warrior is nearly unstoppable. 

How ridiculous would it be for us, equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to pray our own ideas in our own strength and under our own guidance? It would be like Luke Skywalker deciding to go into battle against a deadly enemy with no light saber and without using the Force. And yet so often in prayer, we come with our own ideas. Our own wishes. Our own agenda. We are fighting with our bare-hands when we have the lightsaber of the Spirit.

Our calling is to Wield the Word of God by the Holy Spirit to tear down and combat lies, principalities, powers, rulers and authorities which are set against Jesus and his Kingdom, to call into existence the will and purposes of God. 

For Reflection:

• Do you know the word well enough to wield it in prayer? If not, how might you grow in your knowledge of the word? 
• Pray for the church to grow in its knowledge of God’s word and in its practice of praying the word.
• What lies is the enemy sowing in our culture and among the people of God in these times? What truths do we need to pray in response? 
• Ask the Spirit to show us particular scriptures He wants us to pray today in regards to revival in the church and awakening in our city and region…and show us how to pray them. 

PRAYER ROOMS

• 9am – Tuesday, online only

PRAYER GUIDE

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvationand the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.Ephesians 6:10-20

Ephesians 6:10-20

Thus far, to equip us for spiritual warfare, the Apostle Paul has given us a mental map and a battle plan. Our task is to stand against the devil and his schemes, against the rulers, authorities, and powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. The image is of a battalion in a defensive posture. 

But in order to stand, we must clothe ourselves in the full armor of God. The word “full armor” (panoplian in Greek) refers to all of the armor. Paul, likely writing while chained to a Roman guard, was well acquainted with all the elements that made the Roman soldier so fearsome in battle. The belt, the tunic, the sandals, the breastplate, the helmet, the shield, the sword. He tells his audience to put on truth like a belt, righteousness like a breastplate, assurance of salvation like a helmet, faith like a shield, the gospel like sandals. 

While each of these pieces of armor are important, what is most important is to have all of them. Any missing piece in the armor will expose us to the enemy. If we are missing a single piece of armor, we will be hindered in our capacity to stand. If we are missing the helmet of salvation, if we have doubts about God’s love or saving work in our life, we are vulnerable. If we are missing the belt of truth, if we are believing lies about ourselves or about God, we are vulnerable. If we are lacking faith, we are vulnerable. If we have areas of sin or disobedience in our lives, we are missing our breastplate, we are vulnerable. Our job, therefore, is to make sure that all the armor, the full armor, the panoplia of God is covering us. 

The beautiful thing about the armor of God is that it is not something we need to create on our own. It is God’s armor, and he offers it to us. All we have to do is put it on. Have we been caught in an area of sin? All we must do is turn to the Lord and confess it. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The moment that happens, on goes the breastplate of God’s own righteousness over our vital organs, over our heart. Do we doubt God’s goodness, or power, or concern for us, are we vulnerable to the flaming darts of the enemy? All we must do is turn to the Lord and confess our unbelief. Up goes the shield of faith. Etc. 

One other element of the armor is the community of the Body of Christ. All of Paul’s commands in this passage are plural in Greek. They are written to the entire community. You all take up the full armor of God. A Roman soldier was fearsome. But a Roman legion in battle formation was virtually invincible. Every man’s shield covered the next man. When the entire Body of Christ stands in formation, covered in the full armor of God, the enemy cannot take any ground from us. 

For Reflection/Prayer:

What pieces of armor are you missing? Where do you need to appropriate, to put on the armor of God? 

Ask the Spirit to show you how to pray for the Body of Christ? Where is the church missing elements of the full armor of God? Are we in need of righteousness, of assurance of salvation, of truth, of the knowledge of the word of God, of faith, of the readiness to share the gospel of peace? Pray for these areas of weakness and vulnerability?

Pray for the unity and teamwork of the Body of Christ in spiritual warfare. Pray that God will activate the church in united prayer for renewal and awakening in our city and metro area. That the church will in the words of Philippians, “content together as one for the faith of the gospel.” 

Pray that the church would be covered and protected by the full armor of God from the devil’s schemes. Ask for insight to see and understand what these schemes are in 2023/2024 and how to pray against them.