2 Corinthians chapter 10, beginning in verse 3. The Bible says, for though we walk in the flesh, We do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." Bower heads together. Ask the Lord to meet with us. Father, we love you tonight. Thank you for the privilege to meet. Thank you, Lord, for those who are in their place, and I pray you'd bless them for it. Holy Ghost of God, I yield to you, and I pray you'd fill me and use me tonight. I pray that you would work in every heart and mind in the building. I plead the blood of Christ on the service. I ask, Lord, that you'd bind our enemy. I pray you'd hedge us about. I pray, Lord, you'd get great glory to your own name, and then would you minister to our need, if there be a lost one among us, would you convict and draw that one to yourself in salvation? And then, Lord, would you work in our hearts as your people concerning this matter of prayer. Do a mighty work in our midst, and we'll praise you and thank you for what's accomplished, for we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. Good, and be seated, please. I want to talk to you for a while tonight about the weapon of prayer. The weapon of prayer. And you'll see where I'm headed before too far into the text and the message, but the weapon of prayer. Let me start by saying, if I'm going to have any power in prayer at all, there are some prerequisites. In John 9 and verse 31, the Bible said, for we know that God heareth not sinners. You say, but preacher, everybody's a sinner. Agreed. But everybody is not still in their sin. There are those of us who have received Jesus Christ as our Savior. We are clothed in His righteousness. And even though we are sinners by nature and we are imperfect in our conduct, it's possible for us to be in His righteousness and be able to get access. It's through His blood that we have access into the holiest, the Bible says, in the book of Hebrews. But there's a second problem. In Psalm 66 and verse 18, David, who is a man of faith, a believer, made it very clear. He said, "...if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Now, he didn't say, if I practice iniquity in my life, that would certainly hinder our prayers. But he said, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Have you ever said to somebody, give your family my regards? What did you mean by that? Give them my best wishes? Give them my love. Let them know I'm thinking about them, that I ask about them. The truth is that there are people who verbally denounce sin, but they have a secret regard for sin and iniquity in their heart, and God knows about your heart condition. 1 Samuel 16, verse 7 says, "...man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart." Now, please don't read into that that God is disinterested in the outside. We covered that the other night. He has plenty to say about what the outside is supposed to look like, but what that verse tells us is all man has to go by is the outside, so I better make sure it's right for his sake. On the other hand, I could fool men by putting some veneer and covering over what is corrupt, whitewashing a sepulcher. But I cannot fool God. If there's any corruption within, God recognizes that immediately. He knows the very thoughts and intents of my heart and yours. And so the Bible tells us that even if I have a secret regard for iniquity in my heart, verbally I denounce it, but in my heart, I have an attraction, an affection for it, a secret regard for it. God sees that and it will affect my power in prayer. So let me say first of all, if I'm going to do any praying that has impact, I have to be saved in Christ so I have access by His blood. But in addition to that, as a saved person, I'm going to have to keep my heart right with God and deal not only with my conduct, but the condition of my heart. And that's where everything begins, because Proverbs 23 and verse 7 says, "...as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." What I think dictates what I am. And so the Bible tells us then that my heart must be right as a believer. But he tells us in this text several things about engaging in prayer and using it as a weapon against the enemy. The first thing I note when I read verse 3 is the fact that we are at war tonight, not at peace. He said the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. but are mighty through God." We don't war after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Hey, listen to me, folks. We're at war tonight. I'm not talking about any war that's being waged in the Mideast. I'm not talking about the war on terror. I'm talking about a spiritual war that's being waged in this room, even while I speak. I'm talking about the enemy who is laboring to subvert people and doom souls to hell. I'm talking about the enemy who is trying to turn the people of God aside, distract them and get them drawn away so they'll get caught up in what is corrupt. So the Bible tells us that we are at war, not at peace. It's very important that you understand that we are at war tonight. Because you do realize that when we are at war, we take extra measures. We're careful. Now, some of the things that they do frustrate me, because it appears to me to be pretty hypocritical. But you realize we have really changed security in airports since 9-11. The thing that frustrates me is when I go through the Dallas airport and I find a Muslim woman with a burqa wrapped around her face and a TSA badge on her shoulder sitting at the exit door guarding it while she's reading a Koran. I really have problems with that. You expect me to feel safe because you put the fox in charge of the hen house. And because you undress me, then I'm supposed to feel safe while the person that's undressing me can't even speak English. I mean, there's something wrong with our mentality, but my point being, in wartime, we're always more careful. We raise the level of security. We are on the lookout for danger. We recognize in wartime there is more danger and jeopardy, and we're trying to look out for that so we don't get caught by surprise. I need you to help me now as people walking around already, help me and get seated and stay seated unless you're sick. Amen? I need your help. Because if it starts this early, we barely read the text. It's going to be a disaster before I get 15 minutes in if I don't say something now. So help me. Amen? You'll like me better if you help me. But whether you like me or not, I'm not in a popularity contest, so I'm gonna do what I think I have to do to restore order to the service, because everything's supposed to be done decently and in order. So get your seat, help me, get a seat, sit down, and don't move unless you have to throw up or something. Amen? Now if you have to throw up, don't throw up on the person beside you, that's okay. but don't leave the front row, go out and come back to the front row. We have seats that you can get in without disrupting the whole service. Amen. I know that's really hard for us to figure out sometimes because it appears to be hard to figure out because we don't get it. And if somebody says something about it, well, that's an offense. Well, I've offended a lot of people in my time. The Bible said, provoke one another. I'm good at it. That is my gift. And some of you may be gifted at provoking me to help me. The Bible tells us we are at war tonight, not at peace. And since we're at war, we need to conduct ourselves as though we're in wartime conditions. You ever hear of somebody being a casualty? Have you ever considered the word casualty? It's talking about somebody that got hurt or killed in an event, but they were a casualty. They got casual for maybe a split second in a desperate situation and got caught by surprise. You know, we have too many casualties in fundamental Christianity, some of those as a result of people not being sober and vigilant. 1 Peter 5 and verse 8 said, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, did you get that? Not somebody else's adversary, your adversary, the devil, walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Did you get that? He doesn't just want to harm you, He wants to devour you. He'd like to devour your testimony. He'd like to devour your marriage. He'd like to devour your usefulness to God. He'd like to devour you. He's not just out to hurt you. Do you understand if you get devoured, you get swallowed up? If a lion swallows me up, I have now become part of another entity. I have lost my liberty. I have lost my identity. I have lost my capacity to make a difference, and now I have made the problem bigger than it was. I've become part of the problem instead of part of the solution. But you hear me tonight, we are at war, not at peace. It is a spiritual war that we're engaged in. And if you are not sober and vigilant, you'll become a spiritual casualty. You know, when I graduated from Bible college, this way back when dinosaurs walked the earth and stuff, But when I graduated from Bible college... There was a man who was the custodian, a very faithful man, godly man, faithful man, and Dr. Wallace spoke out quite frequently in meetings, and he had just preached in a graduation about a week earlier, and he had seen them do something in the graduation ceremony that he preached in Georgia that he really liked. So when he came back, he decided to do the same thing that he had seen done in the graduation ceremony. He decided that he was going to honor the custodian and do it as a surprise, not let the guy know in advance, but just as an expression of love and appreciation, he was going to bring him forward, put him in the cap and gown, put the medallion on him, and present him with a doctor of custodiology. Amen. But everything in his mind was to be a blessing and show some honor to a behind-the-scenes person who had been faithful. So, when the regular ceremony was over, Dr. Wallace called the custodian forward, and they came out and brought the cap and the gown, the medallion, put it on him, and he presented the custodian with a doctor of custodiology. The crowd gave him a standing ovation. After the service, Dr. Wallace went to his office, and a short time later, The custodian walked in, wadded his keys up, threw them on the desk and said, I quit. He said, you made a fool out of me tonight. You know I don't have any education. You got me up there to make fun of me. Now anybody that's ever met Tom Wallace knows he doesn't even have that spirit. Nothing could have been further from the truth. You say, what happened? A kind act was misconstrued, and the man got a wounded spirit, he quit his job, he left the church, he moved his family out in the country, and to my knowledge, I was back there a few years later, no one had ever heard from him since! Now here's a casualty where the enemy, the devil, manipulated somebody's thinking, cut them by surprise. They got a wounded spirit over a kind act. Did I say to you the devil's a master at manipulating things? He's a master at distorting how things really are. He is a deceiver, and there are all kinds of people who have gotten hurt. And they're out of the will of God tonight, out of church, out of the will of God, and whether or not somebody actually did them wrong is not even the issue. The problem is that they didn't have a healthy enough spirit to weather being done wrong. Folks, if you live a while, somebody is going to hurt you. And I really hate to tell you this, if you're a Christian, is probably going to be another Christian, because that's who you make yourself vulnerable to. Those are the people that have the access and the opportunity, and it's only someone you make yourself vulnerable to that's capable of hurting you in that fashion. So you better keep your heart with all diligence, because out of it are the issues of life. What you do about every issue of life is not determined by the issue itself, but by the condition of your heart when you face the issue. So I'm going to have to keep my heart, and that's synonymous with my spirit, Proverbs 17, 22. I've got to keep my heart, or my spirit, right? I've got to guard my heart, guard my spirit. So the Bible tells us then that we're at war, and I want to serve notice on you tonight. The war is on. We're not talking future tense, what may come to pass. I'm telling you the war's on while I speak. And the war's not on somewhere else. It's happening in this room even while the preaching goes on. There is a war for the souls of men. and the enemy's laboring to distort, and to distract, and to embitter, and to draw men away. So we're at war tonight, not at peace. The second thing I want you to note is that according to verse 3, it is a spiritual war. not a carnal war. So what do you mean by that? Well, Ephesians 6 and verse 12 puts it pretty well. I don't think I can state it better in other words. He said, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Now, The first four words of that verse are many people's testimony. For we wrestle not. They're not in the fight. They're not in the battle. They're not engaged in the fight. They're conscientious objectors. They're bystanders. The Bible says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Hear me, there are evil men. And it is right for preachers to take the Word of God and expose evil men. But we can't become crusaders and one-issue preachers because if you get rid of one bad man, the devil rays up three in his place. So men are the secondary problem. Do you understand that bad men are nothing more than pawns in the game? If I sit down across from you at a chessboard, I don't have to beat the pieces on the board, I have to beat you. And if I get so preoccupied with the pieces that I don't try to figure out what's in your head and defeat you, I'm going to lose. You understand that too often we're fighting the wrong war. We do not identify the enemy. You know, it's pretty hard to win a war if you hadn't figured out who the real enemy is. By the way, that was one of the struggles we had in Vietnam because the same people that milled around with our soldiers in the daytime would kill them at night. That's what is the problem with a war on terror when the people are in society as sleepers and only respond when they're called upon. You don't know by their outward apparel. They don't have a uniform. They do not identify as an enemy. They slip around and do it without notice. And too often, we don't identify the real enemy. Listen to me tonight. According to Ephesians 6 and verse 12, the real war is a spiritual war. And bad men need to be exposed. But we can't go to seed on bad men. We're going to have to fight the real war. You know, several years ago, When my dad was still living, I was still living at home as a teenager then, my dad started getting pain in his left arm. Couldn't figure out why his arm was hurting him. Giving him a lot of pain. And he went, finally, he went to the doctor to find out what was wrong with his arm. When they examined him, he found out that he did not have an arm problem, he had a heart problem. And the heart problem was causing the pain in his arm. This was a symptom. It was what stood out most to him, but it was not the source of the problem. Do you realize that there were times when my mother and I would rub that arm for him for a prolonged period of time? And as long as we'd rub that arm and give it constant attention, we could ease the pain. But do you realize while we gave that arm attention and dealt with the symptom, we were easing the pain and he was feeling better when in reality he was getting progressively worse. If all you deal with is a symptom and never get to the root problem, the source, you're not going to win that battle because you can spend all your time. That's what AA does. They spend all their time on the symptom and never really get to the source of the problem. These people have spiritual problem. They need Christ. They need forgiveness. They need deliverance that only He can give. You tell them you're hopeless and you're an alcoholic for the rest of your life, the only hope there is is for nine nights a week. We've got to meet and look at each other and confess that we're hopeless. and we'll keep each other off of it, but I don't have a life. All I get to do is sit around a table and talk about my hopelessness, and we're going to dwell on the symptom, but there's a deeper problem that needs to be cured, and if you cure this problem, the symptom will go away. But we spend our time on the symptom, not on the source. Several years ago, I was in Jacksonville, Florida when I was soul winning on a Saturday, And it's a hot day, I came back in, had a motor home at that time. I went in the motor home and I started itching. Itching here, itching here. And after a little while, it was bothering me, so I pulled my shirt off and looked in the mirror and I had poison ivy all over me. Everywhere a sweat bead had come out on my body, I had a patch of poison ivy. I told my wife, after about 15 minutes, I said, I've got to get something of this, I'm going to tear this place up. So I went down to a little drugstore and the guy behind the counter, I told him what I had, I knew what I had, I don't know how I got it, but it was in me coming out. I didn't get a little patch of it somewhere. It was in my system and I told the guy what I had, he said, well I'm sorry, he said, the only thing I can give you is Caladryl lotion. And Calidryl lotion is not designed to solve the problem. It is designed to take the edge off the symptom, the itch. And it will do that temporarily. So I got some Calidryl lotion, went back and painted my body with Calidryl. I laid down in the air conditioning. About a half hour later, I was beside myself. I was itching again. I told her I got to do something. So we called my doctor and he called a prescription in to that little drugstore. I went down to the drugstore and they gave me some Benadryl and some Cortisone and while I was there, I got another five gallon of Caladryl. It's about what it takes to paint a body this size. But I got another dose of Caladryl. I'm not opposed to Caladryl. to take the edge off temporarily, but if I don't do something to get to the source, it will continually reoccur and reoccur and reoccur and get worse. And I put the calendar on and feel better, but there's more patches breaking out. I have to get to the root of the problem. And somewhere along the line, we need some folks to wake up and realize we're at war, not at peace. You can't be blundering through life. You'll be a casualty. You can't be that loose. You can't be that distracted. There's too much danger. You have to be sober and vigilant. This is a spiritual war. Yes, there are bad men, and yes, they should be exposed, but we can't park there and spend all of our time on men because we wrestle not against flesh and blood. This is a spiritual war. We wrestle against those powers of darkness, of this world's spiritual wickedness in high places. I want to remind you that according to verse 4, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are mighty through God. Our weapons are as mighty as the God who forged them. You know, I listen to people and hear them talk about it being the last days, and that's our excuse for being so pathetic as Christians. Last time I checked, you don't, first of all, we got way too many people coasting into the finish line if this is the last day. Have you ever noticed that in a NASCAR race, on the last lap is not when you go in for a pit stop. That's when you blow the engine trying to take the lead. I believe we're on the last lap. I believe Jesus is coming soon. I believe we're in the last days. But that ought to cause some intensity. What are you doing relaxing on the last lap? What are you doing coasting into the finish line instead of giving it everything you've got? Huh? But people want to make it sound like because we're in the last days, it's hopeless and nothing can be done. Listen to me, my friend. The weapons that God supplied me with are superior to the enemy that I'm against. God did not put me in this battle with weapons that were inferior to the enemy that I have to face. The problem is not that God has not supplied the weapons. The problem is too many people are not in the fight at all, and if they are, they are not skillful with the weapons of our warfare. And I want you to note, he said that our weapons are mighty, not weak, and we need not be discouraged because the enemy's on a rampage. We have what it takes to win! And then I want you to notice in verse 4, he talks primarily here about weapons, not shields. You know, he's not talking about survival here, hanging on till Jesus gets back. Not talking about that kind of a mindset. He's talking about us waging war. He's talking about us doing a preemptive attack. He's talking about us getting on the offense. Now, I will say this. God did give us protection. He makes that clear. Ephesians chapter 6, when he talks about the whole armor of God, he said, having your loins girt about with truth. And that loins has to do with the midsection of the body, protecting my moral purity, which is something the enemy seems to have a heyday at exploiting. He said, truth will protect my moral purity. Oh, I know. Sanctify them through that truth. That word is truth. 1 John chapter 5, he said, the Spirit is truth. Jesus is the way, the truth, the life. My relationship, if I'm going to stay pure, my relationship with the Bible has to be right. My relationship with the Savior has to be right. My relationship with the Holy Ghost has to be right. But listen to me, beyond that, I need to be truthful and transparent. No secrets, nothing to hide. We have way too many people that have secrets, things to hide, things they don't want anybody to know, things they have to cover up, things that if they were known, it would not only be embarrassing, it would be disastrous for them. So he said, the loins girt about with shrewdness and having on the breastplate of righteousness. Breastplate covers the chest cavity. What major organ is in the chest cavity? The heart. How many of you think if I get shot in the heart, it's over? I guarantee it is. So, I better learn to protect. When God talks about the heart, He's not talking about the organ that pumps blood. Proverbs 17, verse 22 says, "...a merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dryeth the bones." He uses the word heart in the first half of the verse, the word spirit in the last half of the verse to talk about the same part of man. When it says that Christ dwells in our hearts by faith, it does not imply that he moved into the organ that pumps blood, but rather he united with my human spirit, quickened it, and dwells there. So the Bible tells us then that he has given me protection, but he said this breastplate is the breastplate of righteousness. Hey, everybody that's saved has imputed righteousness. But in Job chapter 27, Job said, my righteousness I hold fast. He wasn't talking about holding on to salvation. What Job was saying is there is nothing in my life to encourage me to do right at this point. And the young people up there, pay attention. This way. I don't know if you think I'm blind or dumb, but either way, don't insult my intelligence. Just pay attention. Y'all get into that stuff and stay into it. I'd let it go if it went on for 30 seconds, but it goes on for 10 minutes, and then it's just an irritation. And you really think I didn't see it nine minutes ago? But if you can't get yourself under control, I talked about that day in chapel. He said, why do you treat me like a little kid? Duh! Paul said, when I was a child, I thought as a child, understood as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. I didn't require somebody to tell me to sit down. I didn't require somebody to tell me to sit up and behave in church, because I put away childish things. Stop acting like a little kid that doesn't know any better. So I don't think you ought to do that. When God calls you to preach, don't ever do it. Amen. When you're conducting the service, I think you ought to do it the way you think God wants you to do it. I mean, we're several days into this. Do you not figure out who I am yet? I mean, I know I'm subtle. Kind of sneak up on you. Come on, folks. Get it together. This is not playtime. You have all day to do that in the afternoon. I mean, we're not here that long at night. You better get what's being said, because I promise you, if you don't need it tonight, you will certainly need what's being said at some point in your life. And you're going to face that situation unprepared, because when somebody was giving you what you were going to need, you were disinterested, didn't get a bit of it, I don't want that to happen to you. I don't want it to happen to anybody, but I can't prevent it. You have to prevent that. You have to get your head in the game. There's a war being waged, and you're acting like there's no war going on. You're going to be a casualty. Oh, I know, you may think that's a joke, but I'm telling you, there's a spiritual war, and we have casualties all around us daily and hourly. We have protection, he said, the breastplate of righteousness. You know, sometimes people get the idea that because somebody else did wrong, I have a license to do wrong, because they sinned first. You ever hear somebody say, well, they did it first! So that's justifiable? Because they sinned, you now have a license to sin back. When you do, you take your breastplate off because you didn't do what was right, and now the devil can get to your spirit, and when he gets to your spirit, it will affect you spiritually like you getting shot in the heart physically. Then he talks, he talks about blowing cloth through, talks about the breastplate of righteousness, talking about our feet being shot for the preparation of the gospel of peace, so on our shoes. Talks about the shield of faith. Faith is dependency upon God and expectancy from God to the point that the Word of God is enough to take immediate action. Gets immediate response. And when you and I hesitate and delay in our obedience, we leave ourselves open for one of the fiery darts of the enemy to make its way through. the shield of faith, and then the helmet of salvation. Now the helmet protects the head. And what's in the head? I mean, at least some of them. Brain or the mind. We've already discussed that as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. So if you think the devil's not going to try to tamper with your thinking, he's not going to try to mess with your mind, you are dead wrong on that one. Well, let me ask a question. How do things get in your mind? Through what you see or choose to look at. Through what you hear or choose to listen to. through what you experience, even one time, and through the crowd that you choose to allow to influence you. So let me ask a question. If the helmet of salvation, he's not talking about the helmet of getting saved, these people are already saved. What he's telling them is, I want you to have a saved mind like you have a saved soul. You know, a lot of people have a saved soul and a lost mind. I'm not talking about them not having their mind, not being able to find it. I'm talking about their mind being on the same thing the lost world's on. I'm talking about them having the same values and the same priorities the lost world has. So the Bible tells us then, that there is something that will protect things from getting, keep things from getting in my mind. And they get in through the eye gate, the ear gate, through my friendships and fellowships, through the things I experience even one time. Let me ask a question. Is there a Bible doctrine that would help me to keep from getting stuff in the eye gate, keep me from seeing what I should not see, and hear what I should not hear, and be an influence by a crowd I should not be influenced by, and refusing to experience something that the Bible says is wrong even one time. What would that doctrine be? Come on, you know what it is. Separation. It is the doctrine of salvation, is the doctrine of separation, and I will never have a saved man if I'm not a separated Christian. Do you think you're better than somebody? Oh, no. I don't separate because I'm better. I separate because I'm as sorry as they are. My flesh is as wicked as their flesh, and I can't bear their influence. It's gonna pull me down. And if you think you can handle it, you're playing the fool. So the Bible does tell us that God gave us protection. We're not going without protection, without armor, but this passage talks about the weapons, plural, not singular, the weapons, plural, of our warfare. Now when we get through that passage that talks about the armor of God, he starts talking about the weapons. In Ephesians 6 and verse 17, he talks about the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Is that a weapon? Certainly a sword's a weapon. And then in the next verse, he said, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. The weapon of prayer, the tool, the intercessory prayer, it's a powerful tool. Just remember the context, folks. He gives us the armor. First he said, be strong in the Lord, telling me who my strength is. Then he tells me about my protection. And then he tells me about my weapons, plural. And I'm to engage in this battle. He didn't give me weapons to polish. He didn't give me weapons to look at and collect. He gave me weapons to use against my spiritual enemy, the devil. I'm supposed to be in the battle. And you understand that This passage is about being on the offense, not the defense. You know, I hear people preach out of Matthew 16, 18, and 19, and Jesus said, on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I hear people talk sometimes, and I'm not being critical, but I hear them talk about, well, that means the devil can't destroy the church. Well, I believe he can't destroy the church. Let me go on record as saying that. But that's not what that passage is talking about. Let me ask a question. Let me reason with you for a minute. Is a gate a weapon, or is it a fortification? Fortification. So suppose I said to you, you have really made me angry, you have had it now, I'm getting the gate out. You're getting her with a gate. That's Drake Fear in your heart one. So a gate is not a weapon. He's not talking about the devil attacking the church with the gates of hell. Didn't we read in our text that God gave us weapons that are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought in the obedience of Christ? Pulling down strongholds! Let me ask you a question. If you had a stronghold and you needed access personally, there was someone you wanted to keep out and someone you wanted to keep in, would you put a gate on it? I think you would, because you want the gate to keep someone from getting in, and you want the gate to keep someone from getting out that you're holding in captivity. And what the Bible's telling us is a spirit-filled church on the offense, using the weapons of her warfare against the enemy, Satan has no answer. We have the power to pull down the strongholds of hell. You say, what does that mean? Well, alcohol's a stronghold. And rebellion is a stronghold. And pride is a stronghold. And false religion is a stronghold. And the occult is a stronghold. Drugs are a stronghold. Bad music is a stronghold. And I could go on and on. And do you understand tonight that there are people that are enslaved. They're under the power of Satan. Remember what Jesus said in John 8, verse 44? He said to a bunch of religious people, He said, ye are of your father the devil, and the less of your father ye will do. Did you get that? He said, the authority in your life is the devil, and since he's the authority in your life, that's who you're going to be. You'll follow His commands. You'll do what He leads you to do. He is the authority in your life. He's the one that's in control of your life. Now, do you understand there are people that are sure of hell as if they already arrived unless someone uses the weapon of prayer and breaks the bondage so we can lead them to Christ. You realize there are people that don't disagree with your theology, but in their present spiritual state, they're not at liberty to just turn and receive Christ. They're not going to do that. You know why? Because they're under oppression. Now, God gave us the weapon to break that oppression. He gave us the weapon of prayer. Look, folks, this is your long-range weapon. This is your nuclear weapon, so to speak. This is the weapon I can get on my knees here, now, and immediately have an impact on another continent where I never set foot. And if you don't believe that, I understand why you don't pray. Prayer is a powerful, powerful weapon. You don't have a mightier weapon in your arsenal. The Word of God is mighty and powerful! But I have to be up close and personal to use the weapon of the Word of God. you understand I can affect things at a long distance and I can have a huge impact using the weapon of prayer launching an attack so he said on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it we're supposed to be on the offense launching an attack using the weapon of the word of God using the weapon of prayer you know some of you heard portions of my testimony When I got saved, I was a bouncer in a bar room, and I just came up in a fight, and family came pretty natural for me. My dad was a fighter. So my dad taught me when I was a boy. He said, Denny, he said, if you are ever anywhere, and you even think there's gonna be a fight, hit somebody. Say, what did you do? I obeyed my dad, at least on that one. What are you saying? What I'm telling you is, you don't want, you're really like, go ahead, hit me, hit me. I like those guys, this is going to be over fast. Because if I hit you, you ain't getting up. I don't want to take the devil's best shot to see if I can take it and then try to fight. Do you honestly think that you being passive and refusing to engage in the battle, refusing to use your weapons, do you honestly think that the devil's gonna let you alone because you refused to fight? We all know the devil's a bully, right? And you all know that the way you always ward a bully off is by cowering in his presence, right? Oh no, you're a bully magnet. You are a bully magnet. What he needs is a broken nose. You say, but he whipped me. That's all right. He only whipped you once because he don't want his nose broke every week. Huh? Hey, listen to me. I don't know about this passive generation. We're in a war. We're in a fight. You need to use the weapons that God supplied you with. Don't wait for the devil to hit you to see if you can handle it and recover. Get on the offense. launch an offensive attack. And so the Bible tells us we're to be on offense, not on defense. And in verse 19 of Matthew 16, he said, and I give unto thee the keys of the kingdom. I don't know everything that means, but one thing I know about keys, whoever has the keys has some delegated authority, and they have the power to open things that are locked up. And they have the power to lock things that are open. They have some delegated authority, and the key gives them the capacity to make a difference in those things. He said, I give unto thee the keys of the kingdom. Do you understand that God has given us the power to bind the strong man, and the power to loose the captive, and the power to pull down the stronghold? And do you realize with that kind of power at our fingertips and then sitting back idly watching the devil gobble up huge chunks of society, when we have a weapon that's not only equal to the task, but superiorly enemy, how are we going to explain that to God? I'm going to tell you something. This generation, my generation, we're going to give account to God. for not being on the offense, for not being in the fight, for not using the weapons of our warfare, for allowing the enemy to have the success that he's having unchallenged, because we're not fighting. We're not using our weapons. Maybe we're not even aware we have a weapon. The Bible tells us that we're supposed to be in the fight. We have the keys to bind the strong man, loose cap. You say, well, how do you do that? Well, I'll tell you this, it's not in the flesh. You know, we're sitting back. We're trying to fight a tank with a BB gun and wonder why we have half-track marks on our forehead. Wonder why we're getting overrun. We have weaponry that is superior to the enemy, but we're either not in the fight at all, or not using the most mighty weapon we have. The weapon of prayer. You know, Matthew 18, verse 18, Jesus said, "...and whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." So how do you do this binding and loosing? He said, "...and if any two of you shall agree as concerning anything they shall ask." In case you don't remember, John R. Race popularized the statement in his lifetime that prayer is asking and receiving. And he said, if any two of you shall agree as concerning anything, they shall ask. So how do you bind a strong man? Ask. How do you pull down the stronghold? Ask. How do you loose the captive of the town in bondage and oppression? Ask. I'm not telling you casually ask. I'm telling you, you're going to have to use the weapon of prayer and continue to fight the battle until you succeed but the weapon has to do with my prayer life and Acts chapter 12 and verse 7, the Bible tells us about Peter being in jail, James being killed with a sword, Peter's in jail, and the church prayed all night. You know, pretty amazing to me because when God answered the prayer, they were shocked. Rhoda went to the door and came back and said, Peter's out there and said, honey, you're interrupting the prayer meeting, Peter couldn't be out there, be quiet, that's what we're praying about. Huh? Finally, they went out and were shocked! So it wasn't exemplary faith, it wasn't great faith, if anything, it was mustard seed faith, but they were praying for God to loose Peter, and He did. That was physical loosing from a literal jail, but the fact is, that there are people in bondage tonight spiritually. They are every bit as enslaved by their sin. They're involved in things that they got a hold of and now it got a hold of them. And they decided to let go and can't! They need somebody to plead their case and somebody to fight that battle. But preachers and people alike tell me, you say, well, It's a hard area. I tell you this, every area is a hard area until somebody softens it with the weapon of prayer. Do you remember in Matthew chapter 12 when these people accused Jesus of casting out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils? Remember what he said to them, verse 28? He said, but if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is coming to you, or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house. Did you get this? The strong man in this text is Satan. And Jesus said, how can you enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods except you first bind the strong man? You've got to render him helpless before you're going to get anything out of his house. Huh? You have to first bind him. Now, hey man, tell me, what's the most precious thing in your house? Family? So do you think those that Satan has stolen the affection away from God, he's stolen their affection from God, and Jesus identified them in John 8 verse 44 as Satan's children, you think he's going to let them just walk out without a fight? You think he's going to allow you to come to the door and say, come with me, leave him, and he's not going to put up a fight? You really think so, huh? It's not going to happen, folks. So you know what you do? You don't have prayer life. You don't pray. You go out and knock on a door. You're soul winning. Now what you're trying to do is reach some sinner. You knock on a door. Guess who shows up door? Strong man. Well, you're talking to the human being you came to see, but they're under the power of the enemy. They're oppressed, and you get more argument, and even if you can get them to calm down and agree with you, they'll end up saying, well, I can't, or I'm not ready now. You come back and say, well, so on and doesn't work anymore. I agree. So on and doesn't work anymore. Doesn't work any less either. works as much as it ever did. But it never did work without prayer! Never! to understand we're gonna have to engage in this war and we're gonna have to use the weapons of our warfare we're not going to get it done without binding the strongman I first have to bind the strongman so that I can get those out that he holds in bondage and captive I have to be able to pull down the stronghold bind the strongman loose the bondage you know most of that's done before you ever knock on the door if you have a prayer life You remember the Gulf War, the first one, Desert Storm? Saddam Hussein said, it will be a bloody conflict. You know why? Because he thought he could irritate us into marching into his embedded Republican Guard and marching our troops into his minefields. But we didn't do that. We camped on the border, and thousands and thousands and thousands of sorties, we dropped bombs, we carpet bombed, and we carpet bombed, and we carpet bombed, until we drove him in a bunker and cut off his communication with his troops. Until we demoralized his Republican Guard and cut off their supply lines. Until we dropped cluster bombs and blew up the minefields. So that when the foot soldier, who is always necessary, can occupy land from an airplane, the foot soldier is always necessary. When they marched in, most of our casualties were from friendly fire. Very little resistance. The Iraqi troops met us, for the most part, like this. Why is that? Because the carpet bombing went on for weeks. We didn't march into their embedded troops. Listen to me, folks. I'm telling you, in this spiritual war, if you don't do your carpet bombing, if you don't get on your face in the prayer closet and use the weapon of prayer and bind the strongman, pull down the stronghold, loose the captive, when you come to the door, you get heavy resistance. The problem is not that soul winning doesn't work, the problem is it doesn't work without prayer. Do you remember the revival that took place in Jerusalem? I'm about done. Remember the revival that took place in Jerusalem? I mean on Pentecost? The great revival, and you know why it took place there, because those people are highly receptive to the gospel. They were all just hungering and saying, what must I do to be saved? No? Just 50 days before they crucified the Lord Jesus. Let me remind you that these people gathered in an upper room, just a small band, 120. They gathered in an upper room and they prayed for 10 days. Now don't miss this formula. They prayed for 10 days. They went sowing one day. and had 3,000 saved, 3,000 baptized. We pray 10 minutes and go sowing 10 days and come back discouraged telling everybody it won't work anymore, it's a hard area. Now, you understand if you want to come up with the same end result, you might ought to use the same recipe. I don't know if there's ever been 120 people since the day of Pentecost who gathered together and for 10 days did nothing but wage war in the prayer closet, praying down the power of God, binding the strongman, loosing the captive, pulling down the strongholds. Why do we think that we're going to do something different and get the same end result they got? It's not going to happen, folks. We're way too busy for our own good. We're too busy to be good Christians. We're way too busy. We don't have prayer lives. We breeze through that because we got more important stuff to do. Evan Roberts, who was instrumental in the Great Welsh Revival, made this statement, he said, intercessors make it possible for public laborers to do their work and win. He said they do as much for the Lord's cause who intercede like Moses on the mount as they do who fight like Joshua in the thick of the battle. And then he said this, prayer based on the Word of God is the only weapon, the only weapon that man can use today to touch the invisible foe. The only weapon that we can touch Satan with, the only weapon we have to bind him, he may flee from the Word of God, and it's powerful. I don't want to diminish the power of the Word of God. But I'm telling you, the only weapon that you and I have that can actually bind a strong man, that can break his strength and the bondage he puts on people is the weapon of prayer. You know, when this revival broke out, I'll tell you how it started. You might be interested in this. Some teenage girls started coming to church every day at lunchtime and praying. Then they brought some of their friends. Their parents were in disbelief and they came to see what was going on. They too joined in the prayer meeting. They brought their friends and it came to a time when the church was full day and night with people coming and going, crying out to God in prayer. When that revival broke out, over 100,000 people were saved and added to churches. Reporters went there from everywhere in the world. One reporter said, that places of entertainment were closed down and churches were filled to capacity. He said, we couldn't find a trace of the devil. Now listen to me folks, the devil was not exterminated, but he was bound. He wasn't having any success there. That same reporter said that we were amazed because when people met on the street, They did not converse. They fell to their knees on the sidewalk and had a prayer meeting when they met in the street. And I dare say, if we'd ever get that serious about prayer again, if we'd ever get on our faces again, if it became paramount in our lives, if we had a prayer life and learned to use the weapon of prayer, revival's not out of reach. God is still able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think according to the power that worketh in us, that power of the Holy Spirit, and I am to pray in the Holy Ghost in that power. The truth is that if we're going to have revival, we're going to have to use the same recipe they used in the book of Acts. And we have a weapon that's mightier than anything the enemy has. I had a young preacher walk up to me at my conference, National Revival Fires Conference, and he said to me, he said, Brother Corl, he said, I'm doing everything they taught me in college. And he went to a good college. He really did. And they taught him some good stuff. But he said, I'm doing everything they taught me to do in college, but it's not working. He said, what do you think? I said, let me ask you a question. I said, how much time are you spending in prayer every day? You know, his answer was, dropped his head. Listen to me, folks. The job we have to do cannot be done without us utilizing all the weapons that God gave us. And we especially cannot allow the mightiest weapon we have to go unused in this battle. It's time that some of us get in the fight. It's time that some of us develop a prayer life in general. It is time that some of us begin to wage war in the prayer closet. Let me ask a question. Have you ever heard the term Prayer warrior. In your lifetime, have you ever heard somebody use that term? Have you ever read a book written by old timers that used the term prayer warrior? Do you think that's just talking about somebody who prays a lot? I assure you, it is somebody that prays a lot. No, no, no. This is not just somebody who prays a lot. This is somebody who understands that I have a weapon that's mightier than Satan, and they go to battle every day. in the prayer closet. Victories are won in the prayer closet that will never be won in a verbal confrontation. Those victories are won before you ever get to the door, and may God help us tonight to begin to use the weapon of prayer. I wonder, Nate, how many folks in this crowd can honestly say, preacher, if I died where I sit right now, I am 100% sure that I'd go to heaven. I don't think I'm saved. I don't hope I'm saved. I am 100% sure that I am born again on my way to heaven for a Bible reason. Now I'm going to ask you, as I always do, to be perfectly honest. A person that won't be honest cannot be helped. And you can sit here and fake your way through the invitation if you think that is beneficial to you. But I'm asking you to just be honest in church. I don't think that's something that is beyond what I ought to expect. I think I'll be able to expect that out of you. But I wonder how many of us in this room tonight can honestly say, if I fell dead where I sit right now, I am 100% sure that I am born again on my way to heaven for a Bible reason. If you can honestly say that, slip your hand up good and high, and if there's any doubt at all, please do not raise your hand if there's doubt in your mind and heart. All right, God bless you. You can put it back down. I want us to bow our heads for just a moment. Father, thank you for speaking to us, and oh God, I pray you'd help us to have a prayer life, to be faithful, to meet you daily, and commune with you, and have a walk with you, a genuine prayer life. And then oh God, would you stir us and help us to truly, in every sense of the word, be prayer warriors, and engage the enemy, and get on the offense, and launch the attack, using the weapons of our warfare. Please, Spirit of God, do a work in our midst, and we'll praise you and thank you in Jesus' name.