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God has given His Church spiritual weapons that have divine power both to destroy enemy strongholds and to implement His will here on earth. To say that the Church in general is not using these weapons anywhere near their full potential is a huge understatement. Still, I can't help wondering what things would be like if we were!
WHAT IF the worldwide Church really took Matthew 9:37 to heart? "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field." A persistent calling on the Lord of the harvest from our prayer closets and pulpits would surely result in a great army of new workers ready to go to the ends of the earth. People called by God and sent by the Church would greatly hasten the spread of the gospel.
WHAT IF the Church used her spiritual weapons of faith, prayer and praise to pull down the strongholds of Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism that keep so many people from knowing God's love? What a harvest of changed lives we would see. These weapons can be used also to disarm all the atheistic arguments, ungodly laws and ideologies that set themselves up against the knowledge of God. What changes for good there would be in our culture and national life.
WHAT IF all of God's people truly heeded 1 John 2:15 to "Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you..." Loving God with our whole hearts leaves no room for loving the things of the world. How different would be the moral climate of our nation and our world if we truly loved God and were the salt and light He intends us to be.
WHAT IF the whole Church rose up as a mighty army of praise to "bless the Lord at all times?" (Ps 34:1) Whether our circumstances be pleasant or hard, the heavenlies would resound day and night with the praises of God's people. He would be honored and the enemy thwarted. The devil trembles when he hears believers praising their Lord because he cannot function in an atmosphere of praise. Nothing foils the enemy's plans like praise.
WHAT IF the worldwide Church prayed fervently for "our leaders and all in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives?" (1 Tim 2:1-2) What if we prayed for the fear of God to be in our leaders knowing that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom? How much more they would make righteous and wise decisions, and how much less corruption there would be in our governments. How much more peaceful would be our nations.
Finally, WHAT IF you and I used our spiritual weapons of faith, prayer and praise in our areas of responsibilities to a greater extent than we are doing? This is what God wants of us. The question is are we up to taking on a greater role in prayer, by God's grace? We should not then be asking "what if?" but "why not?!"
Colin Stott
Global Prayer Coordinator