The Christian Lifestyle Magazine, Issue 12

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D I N I P A S C A L A B A N D A
The violent battle for the
Prayer Warriors
Br. Dini Pascal Abanda
Volume 1
As one studies physical warfare, it is obvious that one of the most
important ingredients of victory in battle is the ability to determine
the strengths and weaknesses of your enemy. Although not always
possessing superior forces or armament, the winning army in a battle
engagement usually possesses superior skills in the exploration
of enemy forces. This includes: strengths, weaknesses, type of
armament, possible strategies in warfare, etc.
Is not the same true for spiritual warfare. Should we not know what
are the strategies, power, types of organization of forces and other
vital information about the army that our sworn enemy the devil
commands?
These are vital truths which the Church needs to understand if we are
to wage the “good fight of faith.” The religious clichés – “Don’t worry
about the devil, he doesn’t have any power; greater is He that is in
you than he that is in the world; the devil doesn’t have any power
unless God gives it to him” – are not sufficient for victory in these
times of extreme warfare in which we live. The spiritual warfare in our
day is intense – a battle against God and His representatives on the
earth today, the Church.
Of course, we must not forget that power, like most other things is
relative. Compared to God, the devil and his kingdom do not possess
great power. However, compared to mankind in the flesh, the devil is
very powerful indeed. Without the presence of the sweet Holy Spirit
in our lives, we would be like a finely dressed soldier without any
weapons against the attack of the members of the Dark Kingdom.
But thank God for the Holy Spirit! Thank God for the Lord Jesus
our intercessor who is seated at the right hand of the Father and
“whoever lives to make intercession” for us in the Kingdom of God.
Thank God for our spiritual weapons!
Thank God for the precious gifts of the Holy Spirit and prayer. The
Lord has so graciously given these to us. But none of these weapons
will do us any good if we are not able to recognize the schemes and
attacks of the devil. What good would it do you to know what to do if
you cannot recognize an attack of the devil?
If you are in the ministry, you will recognize the work of the enemy
not only in your own church or ministry, but also among your fellow
ministers. Ministers are very distrustful of one another, jealous, and
quick to find fault with what a fellow pastor (Priest) or other minister
is doing instead of rejoicing that something is being done for God.
This is a problem that is recognized.
We realize it is wrong and that
the Lord wants unity in the Body.
What is the problem? Is it jealousy?
Pride? Selfish ambition? Yes, but we
must realize that these are only the
symptoms of the real problem. The
actual problem is our failure to both
see and counteract the spiritual
work of the devil, principalities,
powers, rulers of darkness and
wicked spirits in the heavenliest.
THE SPIRIT WORLD
DOMINATES THE PHYSICAL
It is well known among non-
Christians, that everything in the
spirit realm takes precedence over
the physical realm. The members
of the Dark Kingdom know that
everything is first birthed in the
spirit world. This is because
spiritual things are of a higher
order than are physical things. The
spirit world dominates the physical
world. This is one reason the Word
of God encourages us to develop
our- selves spiritually and to set our
mind on things above in the realm
of the spirit.
Whenever God calls a man or
woman to a specific task or ministry,
He births the ministry spiritually
first. They may not even be aware
in their physical body that this
“birthing” has occurred, but it has
already happened in the spirit
world. Consequently the devil,
being a spirit being, is alerted to
this spiritual birth. He goes about
immediately to destroy what God
has established in order to make
the ministry given to that person
be stillborn. This principle is also
reflected in Herod’s attempt to
destroy the Lord Jesus at birth.
Reflect on the parable our Lord told
of the Sower and you will also see
this truth.
Our inability to understand spiritual
matters and spiritual things has
hindered our whole understanding
of the Bible, especially the New
Testament and the ministry of the
Holy Spirit. What is the ministry
of the Holy Spirit now during the
Church age? How many things
can you list right now that are His
ministry? If you don’t know, how
can He be your Helper?
This great truth is borne out by
many scriptures. Perhaps the best
one for us to consider is found in
Acts. “And it came to pass, that,
while Apollo’s was at Corinth,
Paul having passed through the
upper coasts came to Ephesus:
and finding certain Disciples, He
said unto them, ‘Have ye received
the Holy Ghost since ye believed?’
And they said unto him, ‘We have
not so much as Heard whether
there be any Holy Ghost.’ And he
said unto them, ‘Unto what then
were ye baptized?’ And they said,
‘Unto John’s Baptism.’ Then said
Paul, ‘John verily baptized with the
baptism of Repentance, Saying unto
the people, that they should believe
on him which should come after
him, that is, on Christ Jesus.’ When
they heard this, they were baptized
in the name of the Lord Jesus. And
When Paul had laid His hands upon
them, the Holy Ghost came on
them; and they spoke with tongues,
and prophesied. And all the men
were about twelve.” Acts 19:1-7
Paul does not find fault with the
baptism of John because it was
from Heaven. He says it was a
baptism of repentance and in
the faith of the coming Messiah.
He goes on to speak of the faith
of those who heard John as
evidenced by their being baptized
into the name of Him who would
come after John, i.e., Jesus the
Messiah.
But Paul is not contrasting the
baptism of John with that of
Jesus as many have supposed.
He is contrasting the baptism
of repentance in water with the
baptism of the Spirit or the baptism
of (into) spiritual gifts. The Greek
text, pneuma hagion, is nearly
always translated as Holy Spirit,
but it does not always refer to the
Holy Spirit as we shall see later. It
can also mean spiritual gifts and
often does.
It is evident that Paul believed in
the doctrine of laying on of hands.
This was considered an elementary
doctrine of the early Church as
evidenced in Hebrews 6:1-4. The
early Church knew about and
practiced the laying on of hands
and Paul does so here in Acts by
laying hands on these twelve men.
“And when Paul laid his hands
upon them, the Holy Spirit came
upon them, and they spoke with
tongues and prophesied.” These
were the spiritual gifts they
received when Paul laid his hands
upon them. These gifts came from
the Holy Spirit.
34 THE CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE 35