Prayer as a Weapon

Imagine standing on a battle field:

You're staring at your enemy ahead of you with no sword, no gun, no weapon of any kind. The first emotion you experience is probably terror - how are you supposed to fight when you have nothing in your hands? Nothing to grasp but the air around you?

Spiritual warfare can feel like much of the same experience. You can't fight the enemy with physical weapons, you can't beat him with your bare hands. So how do you fight when you feel like it's you against a full army ahead of you?
 
You turn to the Lord in prayer.

The weapons of our warfare - spiritual warfare - aren't of the flesh. Our weapons are much more powerful. They have the divine power and ability to destroy strongholds, to defeat the enemies rising up against us (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).
 
You may be thinking that prayer doesn't seem like it can hold that much power against the attacks of the enemy. You may be weakened, bruised, tired and hurting. You may feel like you have nothing left within you to fight off the anxiety, the depression, the physical pain, the nightmares - whatever it is that you are experiencing in your moment of warfare. But God says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28, NIV).
 
You don't have to feel helpless when the Lord is on your side. You don't have to fight in desperation with every last bit of your strength because there is someone greater who will fight for you. You need only to be still. His power is made perfect in your moments of weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
 
In Psalm 28, David talks about the redeemed, saying "they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed" (vv. 28-29). When you cry out to God, he will deliver you. He is the one with the power to end the storms and quiet the seas around you. When you feel like you're surrounded by the enemy with no where left to turn, that's when your greatest weapon is before you: prayer. Cry out to God. The warfare around you will cease, the storms will be still, the waves will be hushed. Your prayers call down God's deliverance. Your prayers bring victory. Your prayers, combined with the word of God, are more powerful than any sword or other weapon you could possibly wield.

Author | Emma Whitmer