Prayer for the Battle (episode 34)

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Do you love a prodigal? Do you feel like you are lost in a scary and endless wilderness?

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Welcome to the When You Love a Prodigal podcast. I am Judy Douglass and I spent more than 15

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years in that wilderness. I believe together we will discover help and hope for your journey.

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Welcome back. I hope our conversation last week on the mystery of prayer, the invitation

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to talk with God, and the possibility of lament were helpful to you. This week we look at

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another important way we pray, especially when we love a prodigal. In middle school

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our prodigal had joined a gang looking for friends he could identify with. He lost touch

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with them in the year he was in a program for troubled teens for which we were very

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grateful. But when he went back to school, now high school, his gang was there and he

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dropped right back in. One day he came home with terror in his eyes. His gang had gotten

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in a fight with another gang and somehow the members of the other gang had felt that our

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Josh was the cause of the conflict. They were coming after him. We prayed with him and for

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him recognizing that he was under attack from the evil one. But how? How do we pray against

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the devil? Do you believe that? Do you know that there is an enemy and he really likes

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our prodigals? We all want to live in peace, don't we? But our world is filled with terror

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and war and climate and all sorts of things. Almost daily enemies attack and kill. They

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are frightening, unpredictable, and deadly. Yet we have a more powerful, more sinister

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enemy who hates us and has a terrible plan for our lives and for our prodigals. Because

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he is unseen, we tend to forget or ignore him. But we are warned and admonished in scripture

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to be on the alert. We have seen that he is clever, looking for just the right moment,

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masquerading as good when in fact he is abominable. Our natural tendency is to cringe in fear

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or to run and hide. God's word though tells us to do just the opposite. Scripture says,

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submit yourselves then to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Now that's

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a wonderful thought. But how? How do you resist the devil? You can do so for yourself and

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on behalf of your loved one. Here are some simple but practical ways you can stand up

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to the demonic bully. The first two help prepare you to be strong to resist in the moment and

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as a way of life. The first one is to praise God. The evil one does not like hearing our

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God being lifted up, glorified, praised. So we do just that for scripture tells us, yet

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Lord you are holy and enthroned on the praises of Israel. God's glory and greatness are revealed

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as we praise him. We praise him in these simple ways daily or when we feel under attack. These

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are ways to praise God or to lift him up. Name his names, his attributes and qualities.

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He is good and faithful and loving and merciful. He is God Almighty. He is Jehovah Jireh the

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provider. He is our shepherd who cares for us. You can think of many more names of God

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and every time the devil hears them, it pushes him away. You can read aloud from the Psalms

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that especially praise our Lord, such as Psalms 95-100. They are full of praise for God. If

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you can sing or not if you are by yourself, sing the doxology, praise God from whom all

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blessings flow. That just lifts God up and again sends the devil fleeing. Sing praise

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songs, read aloud from your church liturgies, anything where you are praising and lifting

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up God is anathema to the evil one. You send him away. Here's another thing you can do

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to send him away. Thank God in all things. Giving thanks in all things is probably the

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most life-changing way of life practice I have learned. I have mentioned this concept

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numerous times on this podcast because it is so vital to our trust in God and our ability

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to resist the devil. When Satan has confronted or attacked, giving thanks has rescued me

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over and over. When I give thanks to God, especially in difficult, challenging, painful

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or frightening situations, several things happen. Almost immediately my perspective

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begins to change from negative to more positive. Just saying thank you, Lord, changes my attitude.

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It may be small to begin with, but it does. Another thing that happens is I am affirming

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to God that I trust him to be who he is. He is God and he is good. I say it aloud, so

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listening minions of the evil one hear that as well, and it sends them running. Often

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saying thank you, Lord, is like handing God a key to open a door, to show me what he is

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doing and to rescue me. These are ways for us. Then God tells us, since we're going

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to be engaged in battle because the evil one really wants to hold on to our prodigals,

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it's really important that we wear the armor of God. The apostle Paul in Ephesians 6 reminds

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us that the real battles in life are spiritual. He says, for our struggle is not against flesh

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and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world and the spiritual

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forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God so that when

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the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you've done everything,

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to stand, to stand firm. He lists the pieces of armor that we are able to be clothed in

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at all times. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the fact that we have the

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righteousness of Christ as ours now. The shoes of the gospel of peace. The gospel will give

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us peace wherever we go, walk, run. The shield of faith. Faith is a protector from the darts

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that the evil one throws at us. The helmet of salvation. The assurance we have that we

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have been saved by the blood of Christ and it's a protection of our head, our mind, our

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thinking. The sword of the spirit. The offensive weapon that we have that we are wearing, the

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armor, is the word of God. But we also have prayer. He tells us in this passage that we

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are to be praying in the spirit. Not just in our own thoughts and words, but letting

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the spirit guide us so that we're praying the things that God wants. Another way that

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we send the enemy away, that we resist him, is we speak truth. When you sense you're under

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attack, when you feel oppressed, when confusion reigns because the devil loves confusion,

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speak aloud to the demons that are tormenting you, announcing the truth of scripture. Choose

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to confront them with truth rather than just making a power play and say, I'm stronger

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than you because you're not in yourself, only in the Lord. Seek out verses that address

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the way you are being harassed. Quote scriptural promises such as, from Philippians 1-6, being

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confident of this, that he who began a good work in you and in your prodigal will carry

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it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. And this in Deuteronomy 31, the Lord himself

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goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be

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afraid. Do not be discouraged. And one of my very favorite verses, which we talked about

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when we did several series on time, in Isaiah 60-22, it says, I am the Lord. In its time,

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I will do this swiftly. And then in Hebrews 4, we are admonished, encouraged, invited.

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Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy

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and find grace to help us in our time of need. Not infrequently, I speak the following truths

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aloud when I feel attacked by the evil one or that my loved one is. Satan and all your

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demons, you have no authority in my life. I belong to God, washed and cleansed by the

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blood of Jesus, adopted by the Father into God's family, filled and guarded by the Holy

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Spirit. You must cease, desist, leave, go wherever Jesus tells you to go. I speak on

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behalf of my prodigal who has professed faith in Christ. This is such an assurance that

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we can trust God. He will fight for us, but he also says, you have the Spirit living in

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you to resist the evil one and to stand in the gap for your loved one. And then finally,

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walk in the Spirit. This is the ultimate means of resisting the devil. Make sure that I am

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consistently living in the power of the Holy Spirit. Think about it. The Spirit of God

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comes to live in us as we put our faith in Jesus and his sacrifice for us. He offers

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us so many realities. He gives us comfort, counsel, encouragement, wisdom, reminders,

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help, truth, peace, the presence of God, power for whatever our need. Every day, every moment,

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even as we are harassed by the evil one, he is available to you and to me as we let the

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Spirit fill us, guide us, and empower us. So when our enemy comes at us at our weakest

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moment or approaches us with subtle variations or counterfeits, we can resist. God gives

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us praise, thanksgiving, armor, truth, and a Holy Spirit so we can stand strong and resist

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the devil, which is what we did for our frightened son. We resisted the attack of the evil one

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and asked God for a rescue. God gave a solution that took Josh far away for a month, living

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and working with people who loved God and loved our wayward one. Josh was grateful when

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he returned and determined to make better choices for his life, at least for a while,

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so we can resist the devil for ourselves as he attacks us and on behalf of, in the gap

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for, our loved ones. Think about it. Where have you seen the evil one attacking you or

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your prodigal? Which of these approaches—praising God, giving thanks, putting on the armor,

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telling the truth, speaking truth, or making sure you're walking in the Spirit—do you

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think will help you resist the devil in any way he's attacking you right now? God bless

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you.

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Thank you for joining me today on the When You Love a Prodigal podcast. If you enjoyed

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today's episode, please subscribe, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever

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you listen. Your review helps the show reach more people with the hope and encouragement

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of Jesus. Don't forget, take a look at the show notes, and for more helpful information,

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resources, and books, check out JudyDouglass.com. That's Douglass with two S's. You can find

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me on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram at JudyDouglass417.

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Until next week.