The War is ON!

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

We need to merely shift our gaze from the temporal to the heavenly to realize that the battle for our children is not an earthly war. Oh, things of the earth are certainly used by the enemy as weapons. He may use ideologies that our children have learned or been exposed to that cause them to question and doubt even the very existence of God. He may employ philosophies that tickle their ears into believing that there are many ways to God. God's word identifies the enemy as the father of lies ... the great deceiver ... incapable of honesty or integrity, whose only goal is to destroy people ... especially Christ-followers.

Although the enemy may not have the souls of our children, he certainly desires to rob them of the abundant life that God has planned for them. If we look at examples in scripture of the enemy at work, we can fairly easily identify his modus operandi. He often begins his deceptions not with actions, but with words. "Surely God did not say you would die," he tells the woman in the garden. "Turn those stones to bread," he suggests to a famished Lord. He tends to hit us when and where we are weak, and pour deceptive poison into our minds until it has infected our thoughts and consequently, our actions.

How is the enemy deceiving your prodigal today? Has he said, "You're just not good enough." Or maybe, "Really? That won't hurt you. Not just once!" Perhaps he has caused them to question the existence and sovereignty of God. Maybe he has your prodigal wondering if what you've taught him all these years about Christ could possibly be the truth.

Where there is chaos and confusion you can be sure the enemy is at the root. Where there is peace and hope, you find the Truth, the Person of Christ.

As you pray today, remember this passage in Corinthians. Pray these words on behalf of your prodigal. Remember that God is far more powerful than anything the enemy has at his disposal. When Paul tells us about the amour of God in the book of Ephesians he instructs that the Shield of Faith we carry "extinguishes ALL the flaming arrows of the evil one." (emphasis mine). And the God of the universe is alive in you through the Holy Spirit, if you have accepted Christ as your Savior. Pray boldly, knowing that the weapons God has formed are divinely powerful to demolish strongholds ... another translation says those weapons "(are) divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God ..." What is it that has taken hold of your prodigal's life or mind? What deception have they embraced as truth? You have a mighty weapon in your hand and heart through the Holy Spirit. Pray boldly. Release the power of the weapon to demolish the stronghold the enemy has.

Allow the power of Christ to infiltrate the enemy camp. Pray for Him to destroy everything the enemy has established in the mind and heart of your prodigal. And remember. You are in the winning army! Christ has already defeated the enemy and rendered him powerless to stand against you! "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!"

Pray in faith, believing. As you release your prodigal to God, He is faithful. He will cover and protect them. He will redeem them. He is the God of restoration. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39.

Be blessed!