September 18: PREVAILER WITH GOD
Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
God’s people have often allowed modern secular society to negatively influence the life of prayer that we are divinely called to. Between pervading skepticism, doubt, and outright mockery, we have allowed our own doubts to fester as we quench the Spirit of God. We are plainly instructed: Do not quench the Spirit (v.19). These two brief verses point directly to our most pressing daily need, especially in these last days as earth’s history races furiously to its close.
Individuals who desire for God’s Holy Spirit to reside within them will notice a growing discernment of the great need to steadily rely on His guidance. It is a conscious decision to be hospitable to the Spirit of God. To walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8) is a choice. In the course of each day, it is essential to take time alone with Him. But beware of a superficial, “going through the motions” routine! If we are to learn what real victory is, we will learn it through wrestling with Him as Jacob did (Genesis 32:24-30). The new name that God gave him, “Israel,” declared him to be a prevailer with God. This wrestling brought about a great paradigm shift in the mind of Jacob, positively altering the course of his life from that day forward….
In addition to negative secular influences, our walk with the Lord is seriously weakened from inside the realm of Christendom through the popular but erroneous notion of “one and done” or “once saved, always saved.” This idea was subtly planted by the adversary inside of the church as a tactic to effectively shrivel the prayer life and ultimately obliterate the faith of Christ’s followers. The Christian life is one of walking daily with Jesus as our intimate Friend. Do you believe this? Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious. (1 Peter 2:7a)
Jesus, our most precious Friend in the universe, is calling each of His followers into a deeper faith and a bolder prayer life. We are to walk with Him throughout the day in an attitude of prayer, praising Him for who He is, listening to His instructions and heeding His loving warnings. He desires to bestow upon each of us the privilege of carrying out a role, yoked with Him, in the rescue of others from the treacherous, stormy seas of our modern world. Our generation is living on the very edge of eternity. Jesus plainly told His followers of the signs of His imminent return, all but one of which are reflections of human choices in godlessness, frenetic distractions, along with nature descending into chaos. But that last sign is a positive one, and we are all invited to be a part of it. Our witness, fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit, will actually hasten the return of our Creator and Redeemer, Jesus Christ (see 2 Peter 3:12). Our most precious Friend is our ultimate Rescuer. He is the ultimate prevailer with God and He wants us to prevail with Him!
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14 (NKJV) emphasis added