The Strength to Stand

Welcome to the In Touch podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, November sixth. Godly living will always be a struggle for those who neglect prayer. Let's discover how a vital prayer life provides the strength, courage, and endurance needed to stand firm against the enemy's attacks. In today's message, titled "The Strength to Stand," feelings of weakness can be the good or bad. If that feeling of weakness.

Results in self pity, discouragement, despair, and maybe falling into sin. Then it's bad. But if that weakness drives you to God, your dependence upon Him, and you gain courage and strength in Him, then it's good. And one of those occasions in which oftentimes we may feel fear and self pity and discouragement is when we are being attacked by Satan.

Now the question is not how do we avoid satanic attacks, but the simple reason that as long as you and I live, we're going to have them.

So the question isn't how do we avoid them, but how do we overcome them? How do we stand against them? How do we resist? And that's what I want to talk about in this message. And I want you to turn, if you will, to Ephesians chapter six.

And in this sixth chapter, Paul tells us exactly how to deal with this. This is a very, very important part of being able to withstand the onslaughts of Satan when he comes at you. And Paul says, "With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert, with all perseverance and petition for all the saints." Now. It's not enough just to put on the armor. It's not enough to say, "Well, you know, I want to be what God wants me to be, and I want to be able to stand." But there's something very important in this last verse.

It's probably one of the greatest weaknesses in the life of the believer, and oftentimes we wonder why we are weak, and here's the reason. If you'll notice in this passage what he says, he says, "We're to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might." We have the power of the living God living on the inside of us. Once you trust that Jesus Christ is your Savior, the Bible says the Holy Spirit came to indwell you. And the issue is: Do we believe that it's possible to defend ourselves successfully against every single flaming dart that Satan throws at us, no matter what, when, and where, and how? The issue is: Do we know how?

It's one thing to identify the enemy. One thing to put on the armor, but there's something very, very important that oftentimes we overlook. That is the preparation of prayer.

Now, I want you to listen very carefully to this because this is extremely important. The Bible does not say go fight the devil. The Apostle Paul didn't say arm yourself up and attack him. He says stand firm, stand firm, stand firm, resist him. Why does he not say go to fight?

Why does he not say attack? Why doesn't it not he say get your arm and go after him? For the simple reason, we don't have to do that. The battle has already been won for our eternal life.

So that when Jesus Christ went to the cross, here is what he did: lay down his life, shed his blood. Made it possible for every single one of us to be forgiven of our sins, and eternally secured us as children of God.

So we're standing on very firm ground. We're standing in the presence of the living God. You never have to say or to pray, "Father, we come into Your presence." You're never out of His presence. Or, "Father, would You come into our presence?" No, we're in His presence because you're a child of God. You're always in the presence of God.

And so, as we stand in His presence, we stand with Christ living on the inside of us, in the presence of the Holy Spirit, in the power of the Holy Spirit. And so, we can never be apart from Him. But what I want you to remember is this: we're not fighting. We're standing. We're standing.

Listen, in a defensive mode that is also an offensive mode, because we can speak the truth. We can fend off the devil. While we stand in defense, we also stand in offense because He said, Jesus said, the gates of hell will not be able to withstand the onslaught of the Church of God.

So while we're not out there fighting Him. He said, "Stand firm, stand firm, stand firm, and resist." You know why? Because when we stand firm and resist him, the Bible says, "Resist the devil, and he'll flee from you." Our goal is not to fight him, but to stand. And if we stand correctly and stand firmly, he will leave us. Will he come back?

Absolutely. Did he do that to Jesus Christ? Absolutely. We have a foe who will never give up. Until he's finished off, finally, and we do not have to yield, we do not have to surrender, we don't have to be defeated, we don't have to have the will of God thwarted in our life.

We can live a godly life, a holy life, a fruitful life, a life that brings honor and glory to the Son of God. But we have to know how. We have to know what's going on. And in our ignorance, we can fail and falter, and then wonder why we don't reap the benefits of being a godly person, like our Lord has said. And so the Apostle Paul says in this passage.

He says three times. Listen to this. He says he uses the words here. Be strong in the power of His might.

Now we have a promise, and that promise is the power of God, the might of God. We have a promise of His strength. We have a promise of what we need will be supplied.

Now, with that in mind, let's look at what the Apostle Paul says here when he's talking about this prayer. If you'll notice what he says, and he uses all four times, he says, "With all prayer and petition." Pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. Very comprehensive, because he knows exactly what it takes. When he says, for example, All prayer. He uses the word here, which is a prayer in general.

For example, a prayer of request, a prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer of praise, a prayer of intercession for someone. That is, all of these kinds of prayers are important, because it may be, for example, if I see one of my brothers or sisters under attack by the devil, what am I going to do? I'm going to intercede in their behalf.

So sometimes it's intercession.

Sometimes when you see something that God has done is so fantastic, what do we do? We want to praise Him and bless His name and thank Him. And the truth is, all of that is important.

So He says, "With all prayer," which is the most general word He uses for prayer. Then He uses the word, for example, petition. Which is the word that primarily speaks in terms of something singular, a particular request? Jesus says, "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." That is, God demonstrates His power when He answers our prayer.

So, if your prayers are only, "Bless me, bless this, bless that, help me to have a good day, Lord," and all this kind of thing, and you don't come up with something specific, how are you going to know whether God blessed you or not? And so. When we think about it, how does God display His power? He displays His power in prayer when we ask for something specific, and God does exactly what we ask Him to do. But He says all prayer and petition.

Then He says at all times.

Well, what does He mean by that? Simply this: that in every single circumstance of life, you know what you're doing. You've seen God in this. What's God doing in His life? What's God doing in this?

How's God going to correct this? God, how are you going to make this work? In other words, the truth is, praying all the times doesn't mean verbalizing it, but it means a God consciousness, where that everything that we face in life, we see it through Him. You say, "Well, how can I do that?" Because that's the way He's created us. He listen, He created you and me for Himself.

And what he wants most of all is this intimate relationship. And the only way I'm going to be strong enough to stand against the the wiles, the schemes, the trickery, the traps, the counterfeits of the devil, and have discernment enough to know the difference between good and evil in some issues, things that are good and some things that are better, is to have a relationship whereby he's always speaking to my heart, and I'm always talking to him in return.

Well, sometimes you're in business. You may walk into a meeting, and you have this little feeling. What you need to say: Ask the Holy Spirit to give me discernment when I walk in this meeting. Father, show me what's going on in their minds, their hearts. Help me to understand what's happening.

You say, "Well, God's not interested in that. He is exactly interested in that." But he doesn't make you. He doesn't want you to make a decision that is not wise. He is there every single moment to guide you and to guard you, to protect you from satanic attacks and the deception of the devil, the counterfeits, and as he says, the schemes. If he can get you to make a little wrong decision here, he'll get you to make a big wrong decision over here.

So when he says praying at all times, for example, when you're driving down the expressway, what are you thinking about? Don't you talk to God? When you sit down at your desk, what are you thinking about? You can talk to the Father. You can talk to Him about everything.

Praying is just talking to Him. Fellowship is communion with Him all the time. At what point in your life do you not need God? Satan wants you to think that times you don't need Him. He doesn't want you on your knees.

He hates that. Just keep you busy, so you will not pray. Then, if you'll notice what He says, He says. Not only praying at all times, but he says we're to pray, and we're to pray in the spirit. What does that mean?

That does not mean praying in tongues. That's not what this passage is all about. Praying in the spirit means that I am praying in agreement with what the spirit wants for my life in this particular situation.

So, if I'm praying in the spirit, I am following his guidance and his direction. How do we pray in the Spirit? We walk in the Spirit. How do we walk in the Spirit? We obey Him, and you see, here's what the Spirit of God does.

It is the Spirit of God that gives us those little promptings. That's what I call them—little promptings—a prompting to go check this, a prompting about this situation. And sometimes you may be approaching someone, and somehow the Spirit of God will give you a little prompting. Be careful what you say. Or He may say to you, He has a need.

She has a need. Be sensitive to this need. Be careful. You see, what God doesn't talk to me like that. You know what?

If you listen to Him, He will. If you'll be sensitive to Him, if you will walk in His Spirit, walk in obedience to Him. If you're not walking obedience to Him, you're missing the best thing life's got to offer, as a child of God, intimate relationship with Him, whereby He can be so exacting. Warning you of things, cautioning you, but also reminding you of some good thing that's about to happen. Praying in the spirit means that I'm in agreement with him, and he's going to help me no matter what's going on.

Now listen to what he says. Not only praying in the spirit, but he says keeping alert.

Now watch this. Keeping alert in it. Remember what Jesus said his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said, "Watch and pray." Watch and pray. That's what we have to do.

For example, let's say whether you're a man or a woman, and you work in some office somewhere. Oftentimes, you don't know what's going on around you.

Somebody could be lusting after you.

Somebody could be angry about you for something that they don't even know exactly why. They just don't like you. You see, being alert means. That our eyes are open and our spirit is sensitive to what's happening around us, and isn't it interesting how sometimes people will come to you and say, "Well, please forgive me for what I said about you," and you never do anything about it, or what I did about you, and you about you never do anything about that. And you know what happens?

God has protected you, and sometimes you'll have a discerning spirit to know what's going around you, and you know to be very cautious about what's happening. We have to be alert, sensitive, cautious. Remembering our enemy doesn't let up because we're on our knees. He fires his flaming arrows, and then one last thing I'd mention at this point—that's this. He says with all perseverance.

What does that mean? It means don't quit, don't give in. What he's saying is don't stop no matter what. Stick to it. Don't turn it off.

You can't quit till you get the answer.

Now, to persevere means I keep on and on and on.

Now, watch this carefully, because I learned—I think I say—I can learn a lesson long time ago, when I would be praying for some tremendous burden in my life, but whatever it may have been, and I would pray and pray and pray, and I'd think, God, nothing's happening. Then I remember where I was the first day I learned this lesson. I was beginning to get up off my knees and walk, as like God said, "Not yet, not yet." Got back on my knees and just kept praying. And you know what?

Sometimes perseverance is the only way to find out what we want to know. Keeping on and keeping on and keeping on, and that's the one thing that most people won't do. Most people will say, "Hey, say you know what? Count on me to pray. I am going to be praying for you." And about three or four days later, they don't even know they know you.

They've forgotten it, and that you know. I'm not being critical. I'm just saying Satan will make you forget it. He'll do his best to get you distracted. He can't make you against your will, but he'll get you distracted.

If you remember this, that perseverance is like boring. It bores and bores and bores until we get through. And what Paul is talking about here, when he talks about all perseverance—that is, we don't quit, we don't give up, we don't stop, no matter what happens, we keep moving on. And I can think how many times I've wanted to quit, when God said, "Not yet, not yet, not yet," and next thing I know, I have an answer, whatever it might be. And then this one last thing—he says here—he talks about praying for others and praying for him.

Now think about this: you and I keep put on the armor for somebody else. We can't answer God's prayers for them necessarily, but we can pray for them. All of us have somebody in our life we should be praying for, and I would simply ask you this: Do you love anyone enough to spend time calling their name before the Father, making specific requests in their behalf, listening? Watching and waiting for God to work in their life.

Now I want to say something to parents.

Now I want you to listen carefully. You're sending your children to a school today, to a school system.

Now I know there are different kinds, and there are good schools and bad. Understand that. We're sending them out into a society of education. Let's put it that way, where they're confronted with sex, drugs. Bullets and bombs, and you know it.

And in the morning before they leave home, here's what you do. You make sure they're well fed, and you make sure they're well dressed. And some people they want to be sure they got the right patch on their back, and they're dressed in the best they can. There's nothing wrong with that. But mom and dad, let me tell you something.

You haven't prepared your children. To go to school, you're sending them out into society that is corrupt and evil, and they're molesters and kidnappers and haters of things that are good, and people who are acting absolutely insane. You've not prepared your child for school until you and that child have talked to the father about your child's protection. His watch care over them, reminding them that you love them and that God loves them, and that they're to be obedient to God today and obedient to the authority that is over them in the school. To do their best because they're children of God.

Listen, encouraging them, putting your arm around them, hugging them. But most of all, your children need to hear you call their name. Before the living God, before they ever leave home, you may dress them in the finest clothes, you may give them the finest breakfast, you may have privileged them to drive the best car, but until you've prayed with them, they're not ready to face the day. You want God's best in your life? Get on your knees.

You want to be able to stand firm against any and every single attack Satan lays before you. Your prayers release the power of God into your life and your circumstance to make it possible. Listen, for you to stand firm against every onslaught of the devil. It's yours for the asking, for the believing, and the living out. And Father, how grateful we are.

You didn't leave us here to fend for ourselves. On the inside of us, the release of your awesome power, our defense. And I pray for somebody today who's never trusted Jesus as their savior, that that person may recognize the fact that Satan already has them, has them in his grip, and intends to take them into eternity in his grip. But that you today. By your work at the cross, through your Son Jesus Christ, you're willing to forgive them of their sin.

Break that grip, and then to be held in the hand of the living God for all eternity. A new life, a new beginning, a Savior, the Holy Spirit, a loving Father. Speak to that person, Lord. You love everyone, willing to forgive and. Desire to forgive everyone of every sin, no matter what, how long, how bad, how evil, how wicked, how vile.

I pray the Spirit of God will bring that heart and soul, that spirit before you today, in confession and acknowledgment that Jesus' death at the cross bought their salvation, and receiving Him is to receive eternal life. I pray, Father, for every believer who hears this message, remind them. The time spent on their knees in your presence is the most precious, powerful time they can ever spend. Their greatest defense, in Jesus' name, Amen. Thank you for listening to the strength to stand.

For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online twenty four seven station. And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or Intouch Ministries, stop by Intouch. Org. This podcast is a presentation of Intouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.