Living in the Light of Eternity

In the normal course of human nature, things never improve. We begin to take the things of the Lord casually. We find all sorts of reasons why our thinking is correct and why we should justify ourselves and our behavior. And unless we allow the Holy Spirit to renew our hearts and minds continually, deterioration will set in. It is like putting sand into the gears of a machine. They still crank, but the grinding noise is constant, and the machine must work harder for anything to happen. With the many needs and opportunities on the mission field, please do not let your involvement stop with, I'm doing the best I can. As followers of Jesus, the things we do, whether praying, giving, sending, or going, determine to a great extent what happens on the other side of the world. So I encourage you to search your heart. Is the passion still there? Is your heart broken? No one can restore that freshness or passion for you. You must come before the Lord and allow Him to renew the focus of your heart. Amy Carmichael was one who never lost her focus. One of the great pioneer missionaries to India. She wrote a book called Things As They Are. This is what she saw one night as she lay in bed. I stood on a grassy sward, and at my feet a precipice broke sheer down into infinite space. I looked, but saw no bottom, only cloud shapes, black and furiously coiled, and great shadow-shrouded hollows and unfathomable depths. Back I drew dizzy at the depth. Then I saw forms of people moving single file along the grass. They were making for the edge. There was a woman with a baby in her arms, and another little child holding on to her dress. She was on the very verge. Then I saw that she was blind. She lifted her foot for the next step. It trod air. She was over, and the children over with her. Oh, the cry as they went over! Then I saw more streams of people flowing from all quarters. All were blind, stone blind, all made straight for the precipice edge. There were shrieks as they suddenly knew themselves falling, and a tossing up of helpless arms catching clutching at empty air. But some went over quietly and fell without a sound. Centuries were set at intervals, but the gaps were too great. Why, Carmichael agonized, was no one stopping them at the edge? She continues. Then I saw, like a little picture of peace, a group of people under some trees with their backs turned towards the gulf. They were making daisy chains. Sometimes when a piercing shriek cut the quiet air and reached them, it disturbed them, and they thought it rather vulgar noise. And if one of their numbers started up and wanted to go and do something to help, then all the others would pull that one down. Why should you get so excited about it? You must wait for a definite call to go. You haven't finished your daisy chain yet. It would be really selfish, they said, to leave us to finish the work alone. Another group wanted to send out more centuries, but could find few candidates. One century a girl was compelled to take her furlough, though there was no one to take her place. Once a child caught at a tuft of grass that grew at the very brink of the gulf. It clung convulsively, and it called, but nobody seemed to hear. Then the roots of the grass gave way, and with a cry the child went over, its two little hands still holding tight to the torn-off bunch of grass. And the girl, who longed to be back in her gap, thought she heard the little one cry, and she sprang up and wanted to go, at which they reproved her, reminding her that no one is necessary anywhere. The gap would be well taken care of, they knew. Then they sang a hymn. Then through the hymn came another sound, like the pain of a million broken hearts, wrung out in one full drop, one sob, and the horror of great darkness was upon me, for I knew what it was—the cry of the blood. Then thundered a voice, the voice of the Lord, and He said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. The darkness still shuddered and shivered about me. What does it matter, after all? It has gone on for years. It will go on for years. Why make such a fuss about it? God forgive us! God arouse us! Shame us out of our callousness! Shame us out of our sin! Many in the church in the West criticized Amy Carmichael for writing like this, telling her she was condemning them as though they were the worst of heathens. But unless we think carefully, make deliberate decisions, and allow the Lord to break our hearts continually, we will walk in the way of all flesh. When was the last time you wept, because your heart was burdened for those dying who have never heard the name of Jesus? When was the last time you spent an evening praying over a world map? Let us not lose the focus of our heart and leave the battle because we are unwilling to live with the reality that half the world is still waiting to hear the gospel. The cry of the lost, the lost world comes loud and desperate to our ears. Let us be willing to hear and respond to it. He is waiting to do major things through us, but we must bring our hearts back into focus. When they are, we can no longer live for ourselves, our own needs and desires, struggles and disappointments. Instead, we will be ready to make sacrifices, laying down our very lives so that others will know Jesus. In the next chapter, we will be looking at four attacks Satan uses against believers whose hearts are set on winning the lost world for Jesus. Chapter 8 Knowing the Enemy Imagine that you and I are allowed to observe a meeting held for all the powers of darkness. The setting is a huge conference hall, and in the audience are millions of demons gathered from the corners of the earth by Satan himself. As they enter the hall, they whisper to one another, What's going on? What's this meeting about? What is our master's agenda? They look around, and there on the wall in huge letters are written these words, Matthew 24, 14, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. The prince of darkness approaches the podium to address his army. Do you understand, he thunders, indicating the words of Jesus Christ written on the wall, that when this gospel of our enemy is preached to the whole world, it means our end as well? Satan is keenly aware of what will happen to him and his legions of demons when the end comes. He already knows what is written in the final chapter. He will be forever tormented in the lake of fire. It is only a matter of time before the appointed moment, when his doom is sealed by God. The appointed moment is also mentioned when Jesus was about to cast the demons out of the men in the country of the Gadarenes. The demons cried out in Matthew 8, verse 29, What do you want with us, son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time? A short time is all the enemy has, which will be cut even shorter by the preaching of the gospel to all nations. As we reach our generation for the Lord, we hasten his coming as well as the demise of the devil. If we are able to mobilize the entire body of Christ all over the world to move out and witness, it will be only a few years before Jesus returns. You think the devil is happy over this? We are told that in Revelations, chapter 12, verse 12, he is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short. I can assure you that he does his utmost to extend that time in any way possible. In fact, those of us who have heard the call of eternity and committed ourselves to pray, give, and go to reach the lost, would have set ourselves up, whether we realize it or not, for direct face-to-face confrontation with the powers of darkness. For years now, at Gospel for Asia, we have seen how those preparing to join our home team staff face serious attack once they make their decision to come. Some experience health problems, others deal with emotional turbulence, and most face opposition, sometimes severe, from relatives and friends. We routinely tell anyone who has been called to join our staff, now that you have made a decision to join this ministry, we want to put you on the alert that there will be many battles to face. You will experience attacks in opposition to your decision. You need to be prepared and pray along with us for the Lord's protection. The battle we face with the powers of darkness is an ongoing one. If there is anything good to be said about the devil, it is that he is a hard worker. He never rests, never sleeps, never goes on vacation. He works all the time. So as long as our hearts are committed to serving the Lord and helping advance his kingdom on earth, we will always face opposition from the enemy. Whenever we are serving the Lord, especially when it comes to reaching people who live in lands ruled for centuries by demonic powers and principalities, you can be sure we will find ourselves in the very heat of the battle. Recently I heard about 500 Hindus in North India who gave their lives to Christ and were baptized after watching a film on the life of Jesus. Imagine what a stir this caused among the ranks of demons who suddenly lost their power over these people. Here is a possible scenario. What's wrong with you? A demon leader demands of his gang, why did you let this happen? What can we do? They whine. We were doing our best to keep them in darkness, but these missionaries brought in that projector and film and they keep going from village to village with it and they do so much praying. They don't give us any rest. The head demon checks out this gospel pharisee outfit and finds out that somewhere in America, in Carrollton, Texas, funds are being raised to support these missionaries. So the commander of the Carrollton region is alerted. Hey, a group of people in your territory is causing us big trouble in India. Do what you can to stop them. Soon the Carrollton commander has a file on each staff member of Gospel for Asia. He knows every name, every address, every car that's driven, every book that's read, every weakness, every fear, every struggle and how each staff member can be attacked most effectively. Does this sound outlandish? It shouldn't. Even human beings have the capability of comprehensive communication. I discovered recently that everyone in India, even in the most remote village, can get CNN. All they have to do is pay to get it hooked up. The internet computer network has made the information revolution accessible to most of the globe. And a recent cover story of Newsweek showed a photograph of a Samburi warrior in a spear in one hand and a cellular telephone in the other. Believe me, if human beings with our finite, low-level minds have the genius for this kind of communication, there is no doubt Satan can make a connection between what happens on the mission field and your personal commitment to give and pray for missions. His ultimate goal is to do everything in his power to lead men and women away from Christ and take them to hell. Jesus calls Satan the prince of this world in John 12. The apostle John tells us that the whole world is lying in the lap of the wicked one. Political systems, religious hierarchies, financial institutions, educational and banking systems, everything on earth can be manipulated by the enemy to lead men and women away from the living God and keep them in bondage. He is working on believers too, particularly in our areas of vulnerability. You sometimes experience tensions and conflicts with those who are closest to you, your children, your spouse, your close relatives. You find a tendency toward friction in your church, in the Christian organization you work with, in your prayer group or home fellowship. Because we live and work together as human beings, these things occur naturally. They also represent areas of vulnerability to demonic attack. The soldiers who go to war are the ones who get wounded. People who drive cars are the ones who have accidents. The families who have children are the ones who have struggles in raising them. Those who are alive are the ones who get headaches and illnesses. Only when you are dead, lying in your coffin under the earth, will you face no problems. Jesus had plenty of problems with his disciples. They squabbled among themselves as to who was the greatest and fought for their future positions around his throne. Peter ran off of the mouth without thinking. Judas was ready to do anything for money, even betray his master. Particularly in the process of doing our very best to build the Lord's kingdom, we face problems. We can expect it. I want to point out four areas where the enemy can easily attack those whose hearts are committed to reaching the lost world. I want to share these because I believe that as you are forewarned and take these to heart, you will be strengthened and encouraged to stand firm in the days to come. One attack of the enemy is tempting us to major on minor issues. And for those who are involved in any way in winning the lost world, the attack of the enemy is more severe and direct. He takes advantage of the problems we face and like a balloon blows them up bigger and bigger so that our vision of everything else is blocked. Suddenly all we see are the problems. A Christian organization I heard about was attacked in the press. The problem stemmed from a disagreement between two board members and the leader of this organization. The people fueling the fire were so-called Christian brothers who went to the media with their complaints and in so doing undermined the work of God. The problem was publicized. No mention was made of the 99 good things this organization does. The enemy used these men to blow the problem out of proportion. Not only did the annual income of this organization drop nearly a million dollars, but great damage was done to millions of suffering people around the world as a result. This is what Satan does. He takes small things and makes them big. The pastor of a church may have said or done something that caused a misunderstanding. A clique is formed. People blow the problem out of proportion and the church instead of dealing with it divides. Some time ago a woman called Gospel for Asia and told me that she and her could no longer support our organization. When I asked why, she said it was because someone had told her GFA had become liberal. I asked her how she had come to such a conclusion. Well, she responded, I found out that GFA workers do not use the King James version of the Bible. I'm sorry, they don't, I replied. You've deceived me, she exclaimed. I can't support your work any longer. Then I asked her, are you aware that your missionary in Thailand doesn't speak English? You realize, of course, that the King James Bible is in English. My point here is not to argue about the King James version, which I love, but this woman allowed Satan to take a small problem and blow it out of proportion. As a result, she decided to give up her commitment to support a native missionary. Later she changed her mind. The enemy will highlight specific failures, even the smallest shortcomings of leaders of Christian organizations, pastors, church elders, and those with whom you work in fellowship. Be on your guard against focusing on just that problem alone. If you do, you will be blinded to the total picture, and this can be very dangerous. Jesus encountered such blindness. The Pharisees, who caught Jesus' disciples eating their food without washing their hands according to the Jewish law, blocked out everything else Jesus taught and focused on this one apparent failure. Or when Jesus healed the sick on the Sabbath, the Pharisees jumped on him and said he could not be from God since he worked on the Sabbath. These Pharisees were extremely conscientious when it came to religion. They gave tithes, prayed, and fasted, but they left out mercy, kindness, and love. Jesus told them in Matthew 9, verse 13, go and learn what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice. There seems to be an increasing tendency today for believers to search out the smallest hint of anything negative in Christian organizations, ministries, and local churches. Church hoppers and self-proclaimed spiritual vigilantes are on the increase. I heard recently about a church that experienced tremendous growth. A 7,000-seat auditorium was built to handle the continuous influx of new members, but now that building sits with many empty pews. Why? Because the leadership of the church was accused of several mistakes. No one could corroborate these mistakes, but most of the members left overnight. When you are active in a local body of believers, when you support your local church and pastor, and when you pray for Christian ministries, you will soon find problems. But do not forsake your friendships, pack your bags, and walk off. You do not abandon a true friend when he has problems. You stay and pray with him. We need to develop this character in our churches, prayer fellowships, and ministries so that our brothers and sisters do not suffer needlessly. I have heard a saying, You don't burn the barn down just to kill a rat. If you have a barn, you expect to find a few rats, but you do not demolish the place just to kill them. You target the rats. When you face a problem that looms large in your vision, keep two things in mind. First, pray about it. Commit yourself to pray for your leaders, for the ministries you know, for the church, for the pastor, and for those people who are stirring up the problem. Then focus your heart on the 99% of good that is happening. Determine to see the problem for what it really is, in light of everything else and not standing by itself. Let us purpose to see the problems we deal with in the total picture of what God is doing. And even when we are faced with injustices, even when our rights are violated, let us say with Paul. In Philippians 1.18, what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. The second attack Satan wages against followers of Jesus is tempting us to become self-centered by rationalization. Everybody's doing it, we reason, so it must be okay. We adopt a herd mentality. I heard a story on the radio recently. A man approaching a big bridge in his car saw another man standing close to the edge, looking down into the river. He stopped his car and went over to the man, apparently hoping to counsel him to save his life. In the end though, both men jumped off the bridge to their deaths. This is a perfect illustration of human nature. Our flesh never looks for what it can do for God's kingdom, but for what it can get for itself. As a result, we are easily swayed to become self-centered. All we have to do is rationalize it a bit. An interesting event is recorded in John 21 that took place after Jesus was resurrected when Peter decided to go back to fishing. The disciples said, we'll go with you. How easily influenced these disciples were by Peter's decision. We are not much different. It is easy to rationalize our actions, our decisions, even our thoughts. But when your heart becomes discouraged, when doubts rise in your mind, when you are tired and want out of the battle, remember that it does not matter what happens to anyone else. Your only concern is to follow the Lord. Peter was used by Satan to pull the disciples away from their commitment to Jesus and run after the fishing nets and boats again. I pray that none of us will become an instrument in the hand of the enemy to cause a brother or sister to stumble. We talked in the last chapter about William Carey, who answered the call of the Lord in the late 18th century to go to India. But when he shared the burden on his heart with the elders in his congregation, their response was, sit down, young man. If God wants to save those heathens, he'll find someone else. Carey could easily have rationalized that he should listen to the elders. Instead, he decided to obey the Lord's calling alone. What about Daniel and his friends? They stood alone, captives in a foreign land. They chose to follow God's law and faced isolation, persecution, even the loss of their lives. What about Enoch? Genesis 5 records a long list of names, and in the middle of the list we read, Enoch walked with God. All alone, it seems. Jeremiah faced four decades of prophecy, laments, rejection, misunderstandings, and persecution, and had to stand all alone. Jesus also stood alone, and to his disciples he said, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. You must not look for approval from anybody as you seek to build the Lord's kingdom. Sometimes you must set your face against the cold wind and walk all alone. The enemy will use many voices around you to attack you so that you begin to question your calling. You'll be tempted to rationalize what you hear. What are you to do after all? Your father is against you, your mother, your brothers and sisters, the whole congregation, everyone. The Lord must not be calling you after all. But take a lesson from Joshua and Caleb. When Moses sent the twelve spies into Canaan, the majority of the group concluded that the children of Israel should not go into the land. Only Joshua and Caleb said, We can go in and take it, even though they were the minority, and no one would listen. People even picked up stones to stone them. Jesus told us our lives with him would lead down a narrow road. Be watchful and alert, so that you are not deceived by the majority. Do not forget that Jesus' own brothers came to snatch him away, saying he was out of his mind. Jesus said in Matthew 10, 37, Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. As we follow Christ, our closest relatives, even our parents, might oppose our decision. Jesus said in Matthew 10, 34-36, Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies will be the members of his own household. But we are called to keep our allegiance to God's revealed word, to obey him and follow him. This is true especially in the Muslim and Hindu communities. Many young people who come to the Lord refuse to worship in the mosque or bow down before idols in temples, and for this they are killed. They are willing to take a stand against the deeply entrenched family system. You must also know the call of Christ beyond the shadow of a doubt, if you are to hear the call, and abandon your life to him. Do not let the majority become the tool of the enemy to deceive you. That does not mean we should not listen to the wisdom of those in our prayer fellowship or congregation. The Bible tells us that where lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisors make victory sure. It's in Proverbs 11 14. But this is one of the areas where we need to be extremely watchful of the enemy's tactics. The third way the enemy attacks us is by tempting us to forget we have an enemy. Satan's ultimate desire is not to withhold funds, or stop programs from being carried out. His plan is to make believers ineffective in the work of the kingdom. As followers of Jesus in a fallen world, we are not immune to the devil's attacks. No one is exempt from these struggles, especially those serving the Lord on the front lines. Satan hurls his fiery darts at us constantly, using the tiniest problem to waste our precious time. We face discouragement, sorrow, misunderstanding, and disappointment, and may not even recognize these as the fiery darts of the enemy. But Paul tells us we are in a spiritual war and to stand firm and pray always. Unless we stay in the battle, we can easily get crushed by the enemy. And we need to realize how important it is for us to pray for God's protection over one another. We have no need to be afraid of the enemy's schemes. We are told in James 4, verse 7, to resist the devil and he will flee from you. John encourages us, You, dear children, are from God and have overcome evil spirits, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. God is never troubled by the lack of money or ideas. His greatest purpose is to find people. The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. Second Chronicles 16.9. It is individuals, you and I, whom God has chosen to change the course of this generation. Sometimes we forget this, but Satan has never forgotten it. He sees the servants of the Lord as an awesome threat and does his best to make us as ineffective as possible. Let me share some encouraging words by an unknown author that came across my desk recently. The Lord has given every man his work. It is his business to do it and the devil's business to hinder him if he can. And as sure as God has given you a work to do, Satan will try to hinder it. My dear Christian friend, keep at your work. Do not flinch because the lions roar. Do not stop to stone the devil's dogs. Do not fool away your time chasing the devil's rabbits. Do your work. Let liars lie. Let religious sectarians quarrel. Let corporations resolve. Let editors publish, and come what may, let the devil do his worst. But see to it that nothing hinders you from fulfilling the work God has given you. Keep at your work. Let your aim be as steady as a star. Let the world brawl and babble and bubble. Keep at your work. You may be assaulted, wronged, insulted, slandered, wounded, and rejected. You may be abused by foes, forsaken by friends, and despised and rejected of men. But see to it with steadfast determination, with unfaltering zeal, that you pursue the great purpose of your life and the object of your being until at last you can say, I have run the race. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. Finally, one of the strongest attacks of the enemy against believers is tempting us to forget our need to exercise faith in God. Hebrews 11.6 says, Without faith it is impossible to please God. There are times in our lives when we have more questions than answers. Our emotions are dry and cold. Nothing gives us reason to get excited or happy about serving God. What do we do? Times like these are part of the battle. There when the righteous will live by his faith, according to Habakkuk 2.4. In every battle we face, we need to keep in mind that faith is the key that helps us overcome the world and the enemy. 1 John 5.4 says, This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. After spying out the land of Canaan, Joshua and Caleb said, Let's go. Caleb in particular was a radical revolutionary who told Moses and the people of Israel, there in the book of Numbers 13.30, We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it. What do the other ten spies say? Right there in Numbers 13.33, This is impossible. We can't do it. We saw giants in the land, and we ourselves are grasshoppers in comparison. Forty-five years later, when it was finally time for Israel to enter the land of Canaan, Caleb at age 85 was still ready to go and possess his inheritance. We read in Joshua 14.11-12, I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out. I am just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. The Lord helping me, I will drive the Anakites out, just as he said. Caleb lived his whole life following the Lord. When he saw the land of Canaan, he had no doubt that the children of Israel could possess it. Not because he was confident in their might, but because he was confident in God's ability to go beyond any weakness or frailty, God honored Caleb's faith and gave him a special inheritance in the promised land, because as Moses told him in Joshua 14.9, You have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. If you know anything about faith, you know there is something innate in us that works against faith, even in the most knowledgeable theologian or the most powerful preacher. 1 Corinthians 2.14 says, The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they have foolishness to him. No matter how much we read and memorize the Bible, our natural mind always comes up with some argument against God's way of doing things. This is why exercising faith is so important. The Lord makes a clear distinction between his thoughts and ours. In Isaiah chapter 55, verses 7 through 9, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. An important part of spiritual warfare involves dealing with our natural thoughts, those that work against faith. Paul exhorted the believers in Corinth, and us today as well, in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verses 3 through 5, For though we live in the world, we do not wage war, as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. When Elisha the prophet was serving the Lord in Israel, a powerful Syrian captain named Nehemen came to him. He had heard that Elisha could heal him of his leprosy. But Elisha made a strange requirement there in 2 Kings chapter 5, verse 10, Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be cleansed. Well, Nehemen became angry when he heard this. The word in the King James is wrath, and it translates to mean that he burst out in anger. Nehemen probably spewed out a stream of vulgarities. Why was he so angry? Verse 11 records Nehemen's explanation. I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call in the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot, and cure me of my leprosy. Nehemen was not a small man in the kingdom of Syria, and what the prophet had asked him to do was insulting. No matter what God says, our own thoughts will either try to get the job done, or say it cannot be done, or say it is not God's will for it to be done, or say that it is not the way He works. Our thoughts will always come up with something to counteract what God asks us to do. What can we do about our wayward minds? First, we must search our hearts and make sure nothing is keeping us from uniting our heart with one another. The Bible tells us that if the two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. The other important thing to keep in mind is what Jesus told us in Mark 11, verse 24, Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. So many have used this verse out of context over the years that we have a write it off. But that verse is in your Bible and mine as well. It sounds simplistic, doesn't it? Just to believe. As a matter of fact, it sounds more like something an ignorant child would do rather than an educated adult. When my daughter Sarah was very small, her older cousins had great fun with her during our regular visits to my home village in India. They discovered that she believed anything they told her. Soon it happened regularly that Sarah would come running home with some wild story she had heard from a cousin which she believed with all her heart. She did not know not to believe it. And in terms of the kingdom of God, this is exactly what Jesus is telling us to do, to believe as a child believes. It's right there in Matthew chapter 18, verse 3. I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. When you pray for an unsaved loved one, for revival in your church, for a spiritual breakthrough in Islamic countries, for the unsaved to be reached with the gospel, remember what Jesus said. Believe that you have received it. When God told Abraham he would have a son, Abraham not only believed it but began to thank God. Later on, he received his son. I encourage you to exercise your faith actively in what God is able to do. Go beyond your natural thoughts and reactions. Trust him in obedience to what his word says for miracles far greater than what your mind could ever imagine. I agree there is no point in investing our time and energy to study the intricate strategies of the devil. Yet for those of us who serve the Lord and are committed to his purposes, I want to stress how important it is to be aware that our lives make a powerful impact on the spiritual world. It is vitally important for us to remember that our walk in service to the Lord are not a normal nine-to-five, five-day-a-week job for which we clock in and clock out. We must realize by the very nature of our commitment to the Lord that we may face attacks and problems anytime. Our safeguard is to be aware daily of these attacks and as we take up the weapons of our warfare as described in Ephesians chapter 6, we will be overcomers in this battle. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 13 says, 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. In the next chapter, the final chapter of this section, we will look at the greatest weapon in our arsenal. Chapter 9 The Weapon That Guarantees Victory I remember a point in my life when I realized I needed to pray more. An hour seemed like a good place to start. Early the next morning I woke up and, after making sure I was awake, knelt by the side of the bed and started to pray. I poured out my heart to the Lord, praying about everything I could think of. When I had finished, I figured at least forty-five minutes had gone by, if not the whole hour. I looked at my clock. I had prayed for only four minutes. But I had prayed about everything I knew. What would I do for the next fifty-six minutes? Well, suddenly prayer was not as simple as it seemed. Have you ever felt that way? Yet I cannot stress enough how vital it is to develop a consistent prayer life. Without prayer, your walk with the Lord will lack substance and credibility. With prayer, your walk with the Lord will be victorious, since prayer is the weapon of warfare that guarantees victory. And in prayer you will find God's heart for the more than two billion lives who are still unreached with the gospel. God created every person in His image with an eternal soul, yet everyone who does not know Jesus is bound in chains of sin and heading toward hell, many not even knowing there is a name to call upon for salvation. God is searching for those who will stand in the gap on their behalf and intercede for their souls. When was the last time you considered the implications of what serious prayer will accomplish in your life? Unless we are spending time with the Lord, we cannot understand what it means to follow Christ. We are easily deceived into thinking that a few good choruses and hymns, a dynamic sermon, and an outstanding church program are where it is at. We are wrong. One of the highest items on God's agenda throughout the Bible is to get His people alone with Him. Jacob ran from God for 20 years or more before God met him alone. Only then could He make him Israel. When you spend time alone with the Lord, you cannot be a phony. When it is just God and you, you come face to face with yourself and your sins. With everyone else, you can argue sin away or smile and cover it up. Only when you are alone with God can cleansing and purification take place. You may say, Nee, pray for a few weeks or days or even for an hour. You're joking, right? But God is in the business of making His children into the likeness of His Son. Romans 8.29 says, Those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. But He cannot do this until He has some time with us. When you have truly given your life to the Lord, it no longer belongs to you. You have died to yourself. Now Jesus can live His life through you and you can take every concern straight to Him. Jesus, I need to talk to this person about you, but I don't know what to say. Could you please help me? It is simple. When you're in tune with God, you will find yourself like the man who dug deep and anchored the foundation for his house on bedrock. No matter what circumstances may bluster your way, you are solid because you are anchored to the rock. And if you fail to lay that foundation, you may have the most attractive house in the neighborhood. But if serious winds and rains come, it will be gone in a moment. That idiot, the neighbors will say. He built his house with no foundation. Please do not misunderstand me. Even if your prayer life is inconsistent and you cry out to the Lord, He is merciful and will hear you. But if you develop a habit of praying and spending time with the Lord, you will realize how precious that cord of communication is. Getting to know Jesus and loving Him are not one-day things. The more you know Him, the more you will love Him. And the more you love Him, the more He will revolutionize your life and the more you will live in the light of eternity.