The Praying Christian: God’s Warrior
No significant work of the Lord has ever been accomplished without earnest and persistent prayer. One of the greatest passages teaching us the value of earnest and persistent prayer is Isaiah 62:6-7 which says:
On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. (NASB)
Understanding Romans 15:30-33 will be revolutionary in our understanding of the participation of prayer warriors with those engaged in evangelistic ministry.
Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints; so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. (Romans 15:30-33)
Paul urges the church in Rome to “strive together” with him in their prayers to God for him. The Greek word for strive together is sunagonizomai. This is a combination of two words, agonizomai and sun. The preposition sun conveys “together with.” The word agonizomai conveys the idea of contending for victory in the public games. It commonly came to mean to fight, to wrestle with great pains, straining to achieve victory in the contest. Bringing this to our text and understanding the spiritual meaning, we see that Paul urges intercessory prayer on his behalf in his preaching. In doing so, the faithful prayers of the saints are really contending with Paul in his struggles to preach the gospel.
So often, Christians do not understand the dynamic of prayer. Paul says that our prayers on his behalf place us spiritually with him in the struggle. We can rightly refer to those who engage in these intercessory prayers as prayer warriors. We are fighting with all those for whom we are praying. This should have sweeping ramifications in praying for missions.
How serious is the average Christian about prayer? If God has promised the victory of the gospel in the present age, if Jesus is reigning victoriously at the Father’s right hand, if God promises that all His enemies will be subjugated, and if Jesus is empowering His church, then what is stopping us from praying for this victory? It must be laziness, which should shame us. It must be a lack of faith in His promises, which should shame us.
Believing and persistent prayer is the foundation in one sense for the great success of the gospel; it is the energizing agent that Christ uses to extend His dominion over the nations. It is the calling upon our sovereign Lord to do what He has promised! Prayer demonstrates our complete dependence upon our Lord to accomplish His glorious purposes. Since the Scripture pictures the church as an offensive army assailing the gates of hell, we should see prayer as the absolutely essential supply line to keep the army pressing on to its victory. Cut the supply line and one causes the advancing army to grind to a halt. Our enemy will do what he can to discourage Christ’s church to pray. With believing and persistent prayer combined with the faithful preaching of the gospel, the domain of darkness, Satan’s citadel, will be overcome, and those residing in darkness will be set free and led to Christ’s obedience.
I have never been more excited about future prospects of what the Lord can do with us—you as my vanguard and with me in my preaching of the gospel. We can see wondrous things that our Jesus will do!