Don’t Be Afraid of the Enemy! Fight for Your Family!

“Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious,
and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”               Nehemiah 4:14

     Nehemiah finds himself in a pickle. As Nehemiah knew that God told him to rebuild the wall, he was coming upon much opposition from his enemies. Nehemiah’s enemies, Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites were furious that the walls were being rebuilt. In looking over the situation, Nehemiah called together the people and stated Nehemiah 4:14.

Have you ever had opposition? Have you ever been in a situation where it seems as if there is no way out? Do you find yourself being opposed as you try to live for Jesus and encourage your kids to do the same? May we take the encouragement from Nehemiah and place it in our situation.

•Don’t be Afraid of the Enemy
Yes, the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, but he has no hand on your heart as a believer. Don’t allow him to steal your joy. We have to believe the words of God found in the Bible rather than the lies of Satan. So stand on this,

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who LOVE GOD and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28
The prerequisite though is loving God!

•Remember the Lord, Who is Great and Glorious
      “The Spirit who lives in you is GREATER than the spirit who lives in the world.” 1 John 4:4
Sometimes we believe Satan is more powerful than God though his Son, Jesus, saved us. Check out Psalm 107!

•Fight for Your Family
You may think there is no hope in the salvation of your kids or spouse. Many times we just hope they get it and we hope they get it byattending church. But we have to physically and prayerfully fight for them. A great example of this is a lady in our church named Kaye.I have never seen a lady fight more for the salvation of her kids and grandkids than her. Is it exhausting? Does she want to give up alot of the time? Does she wonder if it’s worth it? Does she get any accolades? I am sure she has experienced all of these things, but toher the salvation of her kids and grandkids is worth the fight.

Where do you start in fighting for your family?

It starts on your knees in prayer. If you need help, a great place to learn how to pray is to talk with Carolyn Dobson or Cherry Fisher who serve as leaders on our Prayer Team here at Foundation Church. They also pray every Sunday morning here at church, and you can join us on the first Tuesday of each month at 7pm to pray as well. These ladies will come alongside and help.

Don’t just attend church. What resources/ministries are there to help you in this fight? If you need to allow Jesus to fix the brokennessin you, check out Celebrate Recovery or get plugged into a LifeGroup. If you need encouragement in the parent battle, join us at the Deuteronomy Project on Wednesday nights to be encouraged and challenged with other parents who are on the same parenting journey.

Follow Jesus. In Luke 9:23, it says,

          “If you want to follow me, you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.”

Does your family have an accurate picture of who Jesus is in your life? Are there things that need to be deleted from your life in order to follow Jesus? The Scriptures say we are ambassadors for Christ. God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ whenwe plead,

“Come back to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20

Praying in the Gap for You!

Is There a Delay in Seeing Your Prayers Answered?

“Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel.  Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven.  I have come in answer to your prayer.  But for twenty one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way.  Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.” Daniel 10:12-13

What an encouraging Scripture. To know that there are “unseen powers” that are fighting on my behalf!  The delays you are experiencing whether it be weeks or years in regards to a prayer request may be because there is an intense fight being fought on your behalf.

Remember that the devil prowls around seeking whom he may devour and he is out to steal, kill and destroy you.  Much of what we see on television is solved in either 30 minutes or an hour.  We tend to think  it should be that way in real life as well.  But remember that Satan is out to make your life a literal hell.

But….

Thank God that He has overcome the world and regardless of what is going on in my life I am being fought for.

Don’t Give Up!

There may be a window of time where we may not feel any word from God and so what should our response be?

a.  Give up?          b.  Blame God?            c.  Take Matters into My Own Hands?        d.  Humble yourself before God    e.  Pay attention to what you are praying for

The answer: d and e

Notice who Daniel was and what he did.

It says that since the FIRST day he began to pray for understanding:  he didn’t pray to get out of the mess he was in…..he didn’t blame God…..he didn’t take matters into his own hands…… but he prayed for UNDERSTANDING.  What are you praying for?

Notice what he did: He humbled himself before God.

Both of these responses deal with his character.  One of the questions we have to ask when it comes to praying is, “What is the condition of my temple–my life?”  So many times we ask God for what we want.  It starts with the condition of my heart.

Check out what 2 Chronicles 7:14: “Then if my people who are called by my name will HUMBLE themseles and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

It starts with HUMILITY!

What’s really cool though is we are not in this battle alone!  YOU ARE NOT IN THIS BATTLE ALONE!  Praise God!