ANTI-Prayer.....The "Silent Killer"

In the natural we know that cancer, in many cases, has been dubbed the silent killer because of its invisible nature. As I was in prayer this morning I believe God showed me something about the “silent killer” of the church, that silence being, diminished corporate prayer.

In Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, in the very complete analysis of spiritual warfare in chapter 6, he ends it with an exhortation to PRAY;

Eph 6:18-19 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,

Now my understanding of this from the original Greek sentence structure, is that prayer was not an additional weapon, but was to permeate the whole of the armor. It is taught this way in the Spiritual Warfare Seminars I am conducting:

Is not considered a separate piece of the armor, but saturates the whole of the armor.

It is the armor’s effectiveness

It is our communication with the commander of the battle who activates the armor

Prayer has a fullness – It’s not just petition Eph 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray

This is a very important part of spiritual warfare and is crucial for victory over the enemy of our souls. Now if you’re the enemy, and you want victory, you employ tactics that will weaken your opponent. In the case of the church it’s simply devaluing corporate prayer by substituting it with something fun or entertaining. Remember the story of Peter in prison in Acts 12 and how he was miraculously released by an angel? Do you remember what the church was doing?

Act 12:11-12 When Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting." And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

This is a very powerful picture of what the latest crazes and movements are doing within the church to cripple it so they will not be able to stand firm as we are instructed to several times in Ephesians chapter 6. Think about the last time your church had an all night prayer meeting. What is the least attended meeting in the “church week”? It appears to this writer that the enemy of our souls has found a very successful “silent killer” and willing accomplices to help him along his path:

The Emergent Church (2 Timothy 4 at its best)
The Purpose Driven Church (This is a great E-Book)
The P.E.A.C.E. Plan (The end result is anything but peaceful)

Let’s get back to basics and do some real damage to the kingdom of darkness working within our midst. Let’s gather ourselves together and PRAY.