Wakey, Wakey, It's Time to Pray

Greetings in the Lord!

Today's word comes from John 16:1-3:

"All this I have told you so that you will not go astray.  They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.  They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me."

Jesus was giving his disciples warnings about the coming days, but it is the same for many Christians nowadays.  Persecution and outright violence towards Christians is happening worldwide at an alarming rate.  Even here in the United States there is growing contention and animosity towards God and His people at every turn--against our religious holidays, celebrations, and gatherings; even the secular media tries to taint godly viewpoints and opinions as if they were extreme and intolerant.  Kind of the pot calling the kettle black, if you ask me.  And where are Christians in all of this?  Mostly asleep at the wheel, it seems.  In fact, another political campaign season is upon us and Republicans are not even sure if they can count on the Christian vote, or if they even matter in the big picture.  "Where is the voice of Christians?" they ask.  Do we have a backbone?  Are we sleeping in the garden while Jesus is calling for us to wake and pray?

"Pray that you will not fall into temptation."  Jesus withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them...When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.  "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them.  "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."  Luke 22:40, 45-46.

Twice Jesus tells them that an ordeal is coming that will be so strong that it has the potential of causing people's faith in Christ to falter.  Later on, Jesus is very direct about the nature of the coming ordeal: "But this is the hour--when darkness reigns."  The enemies of God are poised to strike God's plans for our nation and the people of God and many are asleep from exhaustion, just like the disciples.  Sisters and brothers in Christ, wake up and call upon the Lord to supercharge you with the fire of the Holy Spirit!  Go to a quiet place and spend time praying to the Lord for strength, clarity and soberness of mind, to be free from distractions and enchantments of the world that entangle.  It is imperative these days that we be under the protection of the Lord.  This ordeal goes beyond human efforts, mind you.  It is darkness, spiritual darkness that comes on the scene.  Captives to this antichrist spirit are vulnerable to its deception and evil influence.  Earlier this week we saw another violent atrocity directed at God's people--make no mistake, racism is the label the devil wants us to use to describe this carnage when in fact, it is an antichrist spirit that is rising up on this land.  Anyone with any flavor of hate in them are vulnerable, and the media lets the devil off the hook by labeling it with something that ultimately has the potential to cause more divide in our nation.

Don't be deceived!  Yes, we have racism, and sexism, and homophobia, and so on, but go to the root of all hatred and you will see the devil fanning the flames; it is an antichrist spirit that is sweeping and blowing across this nation like never before and people of God must pray, pray, pray against this spirit.  It's in our movies, TV shows, video games, and educational curriculum by incorporating sorcery into our children's reading material.  If you are not vigilant, you will fall asleep from its enchantments and join in the apathy unawares.  Jesus was captured and tried in the wee hours of the morning, when most people were not even awake to make much a fuss.    

Pray that the powers of darkness would be broken off the captives to this antichrist spirit.  Pray that Jesus would visit all those who are seeking the One, True God Almighty--even those who are fasting for Ramadan; the Lord knows our hearts and can reveal Himself to anyone at any time, no matter what they claim to believe today.  He is the God of the impossible, a God that delights when one turns to Him with all their heart, able to forgive even the most vile of sins and make us white as snow.  

~Be blessed and be a blessing.        

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