The other night I attended a huge event at my church in St. Louis with key speaker, author, and actress, Priscilla Shirer. Priscilla Shirer is the leading star in the new Christian movie The War Room, which is currently the top selling movie in the nation. The event was called The Fervent Tour.
What does fervent mean? I decided to look it up. According to the dictionary, fervent means “having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, or enthusiasm.” Being fervent in prayer means to actually feel what you are praying for or saying, not just going through the motions or memorization. Fervent means praying prayers that aren’t lifeless, boring, routine, but rather strong, targeted, and full of feeling.
What does it mean to be fervent in prayer? James 5:15-16 says “… and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
During Priscilla’s speech in The Fervent Tour, she said there is a war, a war that is unavoidable. Battle is unavoidable and the enemy lurks behind the curtain waiting to plant evil thoughts, plans and doing over you. Wherever you are, and wherever you go there will always be a battle, so we must constantly be on our guard. We must guard our heart and our mind. These things are important, as the heart is the most vital organ of the body.
You see, we may think the enemy is a spouse, friend, boyfriend/girlfriend, boss or colleague, or someone we know, but the enemy is none of those. He is invisible and he cannot be beaten with fleshy objects or weapons … he can only be fought with one weapon – Prayer. Prayer is the key weapon.
My dad taught me to pray. I still remember when I was a little girl and every night before we ate dinner and every night before I went to bed we would kneel and pray. Even though I don’t see him much I will always have prayer rooted deep in my mind. He taught me how important it is to have prayer ingrained in your everyday life. And that trait I will pass on to my children someday.
The enemy is good. Very good. The minute we stray away from the prayer, he closes in ready to attack. He is good at leading us down the path of destruction. He strikes with deception, disguise, and lies. He twists, plots, and deceives. And if we are not careful, he can direct our energy towards him and turn our thoughts, heart, and life upside down.
Ephesians 6:12 says, “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.”
When things are going right for you, when God’s plans for you are so great, that’s when the enemy comes. The enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy, and we have to be careful because we don’t see him coming. He’s invisible, a master of disguise. Distraction is his game. He wants to distract us and play on our vulnerability, to cripple us in doubt, fear, and discouragement. It only takes one second and boom, your path is made crooked, your train which was once on a straight path has become derailed. He will twist, plot and deceive you. You will be played a fool. He will play you like a game of chess.
As soon as we live upside down with dangerous behavior or thoughts that do not align with the truth we have created an environment where the enemy will grow and fester like mold, in your experiences, your heart and in your mind. One negative thought can easily reproduce and distort our thoughts and reality, feeding us lies. Priscilla says that is why we must fight. We must fight the enemy with the armor of God.
Ephesians 6:10-17 says, “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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
The good news is the enemy can not put out your light. It’s like walking through a dark tunnel. You can barely see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s there. It only makes sense for you to keep moving forward, not backwards further into the darkness.
It’s up to us to put on our armor, declare His promises, take out our sword, and fight. We are equipped. We are prepared. So the next time the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy you stand firm and say boldly, “Today is going to be a good day, because I’m declaring it in the name of Jesus!”
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