PART 8C THE STAFF AND SWORD MINISTRY September 9, 2012

MANIFESTING CHRISTA CLOSER WALK WITH JESUS

STAYING THE COURSE

by Nancy-TGNI Youngbrandt

In every believers life and walk in Christ, there are peaks and valleys, times of greatcloseness with God and times when we walk through the dark valley of the shadow of death.There are times when we feel the blessings of God's Hand upon our lives, and then there aretimes when things seem to go wrong, break down, or just plain go awry. Since last year, theprayer warriors and intercessors of the Net of Prayer (the prayer warfare organization partof this ministry), have been battling the demonic forces of Lucifer and the Beast-man ofanti-Christ. Some of these demons are in this world already, while others are working tocome through the Gap from deep in the spirit realm into this world, to affect things heredirectly. At first the warfare was farther removed from many of our prayer warriors, but astime goes on. more and more are beginning to feel it in their daily lives.

For months now, the enemy of our souls has been throwing what I think of as `flak andturbulence' when and where they can. What do I mean by that? Well, ifyou've ever watcheda movie or documentary about World War II, you'll see footage of our Air Force bomberplanes being sent into enemy territory to bomb key targets in major populated areas. In thosecases, the nearer they got to their targets, the more the enemy would fire up flak' into theair to cause trouble for our guys. The flak' were small explosive rounds, designed to shakeand rock the airplanes. and shoot bits of metal and debris through the air, often ripping into

the engines, wings, and other parts ofthe airplanes, not to mention the men within them. The

enemy was firing this stuff up in the air in hopes of at least crippling, and at the worst,

bringing the planes down, before they could reach their targets and drop their bombs.

For us today, the enemy of our souls is doing the same thing: seeking to trouble us, to slow

us down, to distract us, and cause us to give up, turn and run. They would destroy us if they

could, but they can't _ However, that doesn't mean they won't try. To do this, they are

hitting whatever weak areas are in us or in our lives when and where they can. They will

move through weak vessels such as family members or friends to get at us. If that doesn't

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work, they'll do something to get us to turn on ourselves, to get us to condemn ourselves,giving the enemy more power in our lives. They will use whatever they can to divide us orget us to separate ourselves from the Body of Christ and the Net of Prayer. They won'tsucceed by attacking the whole Net of Prayer, but if we leave or go off and do our ownthing, this will effectively put us out in the open, and again, they'll have a greateropportunity to trouble us.

Therefore, I am led to encourage you all to be aware of what the enemy is up to and tohang in there, and stay the course, as they say. Ride out this current time with your heartfocused on Christ and pressing onward in prayer warfare. Likewise, be sure to be vigilantto do some spiritual housecleaning of your own, if necessary. Just remember: What theenemy means for harm and bad purposes, God can use for good. Let this time serve tostrengthen your walk in faith. As it says in Hebrews 12:1 -

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud ofwitnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sit? which loth so easily beset

us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

TWO ASPECTS TO DEALING WITH TROUBLES

When we've been hit with troubles, persecutions, or difficulties, there are two basicaspects that I see need to be Iooked at. One is our inner response, our inner disposition towhat has happened and how we react to it. The second is what we can do about it in prayerand spiritual warfare. When is something we are going through part of being a Christian andtherefore a Cross we must bear, and what is it something that is within our authority inChrist to deal with directly? This is the question I'd like to explore.

For example, in 1 Peter 4:12-14 it tells us: "Beloved, think it not strange concerningthe fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ 's sufferings; that, when His gloryshall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for thenaive of Christ, happy are ye; Jri the spirit ofglory and of God resteth upon you: ontheir part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified " But then in the nextchapter Peter tells us, "Be sober, he vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as aroaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom lie may devour. " (I Peter 5:8)

Here we see that there is a time to take up our cross and partake in Christ's sufferings, but

then there is also a time to take up the Sword of the Spirit against the enemy of our souls,

for the Devil is certainly on the prowl. The simplest explanation of when to be a lamb of

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TWO ASPECTS TO DEALING WITH TROUBLES continuedGod and when to a lion of God can be seen in these two different passages of Scripture. Firstlet's look at Colossians 3:12 -15:

"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies,kindness, humbleness ofmind meekness, longsuffer ing; For hearing one another, andforgiving one another, i'anv man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgaveyou, so also clove. And above all these things put on charity (love), which is the bondof per fectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye arecalled in one body: and be ye thankful. "

This speaks to me that this is how we are to be with and towards one another - fellowbrothers and sisters in Christ. With each other, we are to be gentle, kind, loving andforgiving as a lamb. However, to the enemy of our souls, we are to show our other side: ourinner lion of Judah.

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put onthe whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wile of the devil. Forwe wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,against the ruler of (darkness of this t.vorld, against spiritual wickedness in high places.Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstandin the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girtabout with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shodwith preparation of the gospel of peace, Above all, taking the shield of faith,wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take on thehelmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: "

And then in verse 18 comes the message of this article - "Praying always with allprayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with allperseverance and supplication . for all saints. " Persevering ... standing your ground.... staying the course ... this is the time we are in.

HOW TO PRAY

There was a lot more I originally planned to go into but as I am writing this, the leadingis to make this article short and to the point. So, if you are having any trouble in your life,here are some suggestions in how to approach them in prayer.

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HOW TO PRAY continued

1.) First, start by getting yourself right with God. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 7:1 —"... let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting

holiness in the . fear of God. "So, pray and repent of any sin in yourself and in your life, putting it all under the Blood ofJesus Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you any areas that you may need to pray andrepent about specifically, acid then do so. This will remove any grounds or opportunity theenemy may have against you.

"Subunit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee fromyou. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw night to you. Cleanse you hands, yesinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. " (James 4:7-8)

2.) Pray to put on the whole armor of God.

3.) If you are having trouble in your home or on your property, you can pray to plead theBlood of Christ on your house and property.

In you are so led by the Holy Spirit, you can anoint your house, going room by room, toremove all spiritual uncleanness and demonic spirits that may have wandered in.

If you are in doubt about taking authority over the Devil personally, then you can pray,"The Lord Jesus rebuke you Satan." or "The Lord Jesus rebuke you Lucifer." Claim andassert in prayer, that your lives and property belong to Jesus Christ and the Devil and hisdemons do not belong there. In Jesus' Name, they must flee.

Lastly, if you don't know what to pray or are unsure about doing spiritual warfare to dealwith what is in your home, or just plain troubling you, then pray Psalm 91.

I find Psalm 91 particularly helpful when I wake up from a bad dream, one in which Ihave been attacked and don't want to go back to sleep only to find myself back in the middleof. I wake up, shaken and afraid, but also groggy and not sure how to pray. This is when Ireach for my copy of Psalm 91, which I keep by my bed, which I then pray. I always havea good night's sleep after that. If you are having a hard time even getting to sleep, I wouldsuggest praying Psalm 91 since it will deal with whatever may be hanging around in theroom, keeping you from getting a good night's sleep.

"For 1 an7 persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, not principalities,nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, norany other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is inChrist Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)