Review:
Stormie Omartian’s
understanding of a prayer warrior comes from the biblical injunction to ‘Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfil the
law of Christ’ Gal 6:2. “This in a nutshell is what it means to be a prayer
warrior. Take the burdens of other people to the Lord in prayer. That is
intercession. Recognize the opposing work of the enemy and resist him in
prayer. That is what prayer warriors do” (Stormie
Omartian, Prayer Warrior, Harvest
House, 2013,p. 23). Her book Prayer Warrior is a call for more prayer
warriors “so that evil will be driven back, the kingdom of God advanced and the
will of God be done” (p. 97). She is clear on the strategies of Satan, of the
authority of the believer in Christ and of the sure victories that come as
believers pray with the whole armor of God, from God’s perspective with God’s
power. A very important book.
M.L.
Codman-Wilson, Ph.D. 1/26/14
Excerpts:
Our Adversary
“Recognize who your true
enemy is. He is called the father of lies…the thief…the tempter…the enemy and
avenger…the accuser…the evil one…the adversary…the ruler of this world and the
prince of the power of the air” (pp. 39,
41-42).
“The enemy will always come to you to entice you to doubt God. He will
tempt you to be dissatisfied with what God has given you. He will cause you to
question what God is doing or has called you to do. That’s why you have to know
with certainty who God is, what God has accomplished, and who you are in the Lord.
When you hear something like, “it’s ok to do that because everyone is doing it”,
stand strong in God’s word and in prayer and refuse to buy into his lies…Every
step of disobedience to God’s ways put you in collusion with the enemy. You
don’t even have to commit some heinous crime. All gossip, envy, unkindness,
rudeness, cruelty or impure thoughts puts us in a working relationship with the
enemy while grieving the Holy Spirit in us…RUN, DON’T WALK away from any voice
that tells you it’s ok to disobey God’s commandments and his personal
instructions to you…Fortify yourself in God’s word, in prayer and in worship
and praise…The enemy is continually setting traps to trip us up by enticing us
to disobey God. But we have a choice. We can rule over it” (pp. 45-47).
“When we align our will with
God’s will, that’s when we see the enemy pushed back. The enemy…wants to
distract you, deceive you, discourage you, and destroy you so that God’s
purposes for your life will never be fulfilled”(p. 51). “How you respond to the
enemy of your soul determines whether his plan for your life or God’s plan for
your life is realized” (p.13).
“Stay under the umbrella of
God’s protection which has been secured by the blood of Jesus …You must be
diligent as a prayer warrior to resist his attacks…The enemy is not everywhere;
he can only be where there is an opening for him. The enemy does not know
everything, and he does not know what you think, he only knows what you say. So
watch what you say. If you say you do not want to live your life any more, the
enemy will help you get what you want. If you say “I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me” or “Praise you Jesus, I worship you as Lord and
Savior, Deliverer and Redeemer,” the enemy is powerless and can do nothing” (p. 52).
Authority in Prayer
“The foundation for your
authority in prayer is that you have received Jesus and have His Spirit in your
heart…His Spirit in us makes us strong…The grounds for your authority in prayer
as a prayer warrior are that Jesus triumphed over sin death, hell and all evil
powers when He suffered and died on the cross and rose again from the dead.
Because of that, Jesus is above all principality, power, might and
dominion…There is a hierarchy of evil powers that are not visible to us, and
they advance their dark plans and strategies through these forces. But Jesus’
power is far above that of the evil forces of darkness…Jesus is the
source of all your authority and power….Only Jesus has what it takes” (pp.59-61). “Laying
hold of all that Jesus did helps you understand your authority in prayer….God
delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the
Son…We have been transferred out of enemy territory and into God’s kingdom…We
are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power (Col.2:10)…You
have everything you need to be a powerful prayer warrior” (pp.62, 64, 66).
“Intercessory prayer is like
catching a ball in football as a member of the opposing team and running it in
the opposite direction to one’s team goal line…You see a situation that is
headed in a wrong direction and you leap in to intercept that situation in
prayer and take it the opposite direction for a victory on God’s side – the
team you are on. There are many things God wants to do on earth and in people’s
lives but if someone doesn’t leap in and answer the call to pray, it won’t
happen.”(p.67). “How it must grieve God when he wants to do so much
through us and we are too preoccupied or distracted to hear His call to
intercede…Praying for someone, or certain people, means we are standing before
God on their behalf…The enemy wants to break down the protective walls in every
part of our lives and in the lives of others but we can restore any breach the
enemy has caused when we intercept that situation in prayer…When we pray, we
are able to connect the needs of others to the outpouring of God’s mercy”(p.68).
Condition Yourself to be all you can be
“We must spend time with the
Lord so we are not dominated by our unforgiveness, doubt, lust, hate, anxiety
or sadness but they can be transformed into forgiveness, faith, purity, love,
peace and joy” (p.77). “A prayer warrior must be separate from sin. If you
have sin in your life, it will weaken you. The enemy knows it and will use it
to harm you” (p.81). “Get rid of any bad attitude, destructive habit,
wrong mind-set, unhealthy practice or forbidden activity that hinders your
spiritual growth and development…Pride is the main characteristic of the
enemy…Ask God to show you if you have left yourself open for an enemy attack
because you have allowed someone into your life in a way that allows them to
affect you more than you affect them for God’s kingdom” (pp. 83, 87).
“There are layers of unforgive-ness, especially if the offense was severe or
happened over a long period of time…Ask God to reveal any unforgiveness in you
so that you can be rid of it…Watch what you say. There is a connection between
what we say – whether it is evil or not – and answered prayer. God hears our
prayers when our words reflect His truth” (pp.90-91). We are to
“speak grace” to our mountain of obstacles as Zerrubabel was instructed to do (Zech.4:7)…The
enemy can never stand against what God desires to do by His grace (pp.119-120).
Put on the whole armor of God each day
“Prayer warriors need to put
on the armor of God every day because the war is always going on. New battles continually need to be fought so
that evil will be driven back, the kingdom of God advanced and the will of God
be done. Our spiritual armor not only protects us from the enemy, it also give
us what we need in order to push against him” (p.97). “The victory over evil was
accomplished on the cross, but the enemy is still here. He is a defeated enemy
but he is still waging the war…We must have the whole armor of God protecting
us at all time so we can stand successfully against the enemy’s plans for not
only our life but also the lives of others” (p.98.). “To stand against literally means to stand in front
of and in opposition to the forces and plans of evil. It means to be the one standing after the
battle. It also means to stand in preparation for the next battle” (p.96).
Girding one’s waist with the belt of
truth. “Romans soldiers girded their waist with
something similar to what a weight lifter wears to give him strength and
support so he won’t hurt the core of his body…When we wrap God’s truth around
us, it protects us by strengthening our core being. Truth gives us strength in
our spiritual core” (pp.98-99).
Breastplate of righteousness – “When we make the choice every day to live in a
righteous manner, our life is covered and our heart is protected…Our
breastplate of righteousness is the righteous of Jesus in us” (p.99).
Shoes fit with the gospel of peace –“Romans soldiers had strong military shoes studded on
the bottom of the soles…to keep them from slipping…Jesus made it possible for
us to have the peace that passes all understanding – the kind that carries up,
stabilizes us, grounds u and keeps us from slipping” (pp.100-101).
Shield of faith- The enemy shoots spiritual arrows and darts at us
designed to pierce our heart with discouragement and make us fearful, anxious,
uncertain or incapacitated…Faith dissolves fear and makes us courageous…Faith
opens up unlimited possibilities. Jesus said, ‘If you believe, all things are possible to him who believes’ (Mk.9:23). Our faith must grow strong enough to believe
for the impossible because we believe in the God of the impossible and with Him
all things are possible” (pp.101-102).
Helmet
of salvation – “What does our head
most need protection from? The lies of the enemy, of course. ..When we put on
the helmet of salvation, we are transformed through the renewing of our
mind….The helmet of salvation gives us new perspective on ourselves that aligns
with our heavenly Father’s view of us” (pp.
102-103).
The Sword of the Spirit
– “The Word of God is so powerful that it is a doubled-edged sword in our hands
(Heb. 4:12). That means it is a defensive as well as offensive weapon. As prayer
warriors we need both…Put on the Word like a protective garment every morning.
Speak the word, pray the Word, live the Word and let it live in you so it
becomes part of your armor (pp.105-106).
“The more diligently we read the Word,
quote the Word, pray the Word and do the Word, the stronger our faith will
be…Have some verses etched in your memory.(p.112)...When you speak the Word of God in the face of every
attack of the enemy, you are driving a sword through his plans” (p.115).
Fasting also
breaks down the plans of the enemy and accomplishes God’s will... Fasting can
‘loose the bonds of wickedness, ‘undo heavy burdens,’ ‘let the oppressed go
free,’ ‘break every yoke’ (Isa. 58:6) (pp.120-121).
Engage in the war knowing the time is short
You don’t have to enlist in
the army because you have already enlisted when you receive the Lord, but you
do have to engage…We must engage in the war now because the enemy knows he has
only a short time before the return of the Lord…Engage means to…promise… To enter into conflict…With regard to being a
prayer warrior engage means to pledge to God that you are choosing to oppose
the plans of the enemy by praying for God’s will to be done on earth…We can’t
always be putting out fires. We have to prevent them. We have to be proactive
and pray in anticipation of the enemy’s tactics. We must pray prayers of protection
from the enemy for ourselves, our families and all the people whom God puts on
our hearts (pp.129-131).
Resist the enemy by submitting to God
“God wants to be first in our
hearts. When we do things that separate us from Him our prayer don’t get answered…Submitting
to God means humbling ourselves before him and declaring our utter dependence
upon him. It means repenting of all pride…An un-submitted area in us is
dangerous. Wherever we don’t submit to God in our lives is an automatic
invitation to the enemy” (pp.159-160).
“Resist the enemy by praying
for miracles…God wants to do miracles through us but too often we either don’t
pray for them or don’t believe they can happen or when they do happen we have
trouble believing it”(p.166). “Submitting to God means doing all He asks you to do.
It means standing UP for Him. Resisting the enemy means NOT doing anything he
wants you to do. It means standing AGAINST him” (p.168).
See what’s happening from God’s Perspective
“We must remember that we are
not going into territory the enemy owns. We are taking back territory the enemy
has stolen” (p.173). “Solid prayer warriors establish boundaries in the
Spirit realm that the enemy cannot cross. They pray for the penetration of
God’s kingdom and power in themselves, their families, people who request
specific prayer and situations which need the penetration of God” (p. 177).
“We should always ask God to
show us what is happening from His perspective so we know how to pray…and can
better understand God’s timing of events (178,
180). “When a situation or person is
going in the wrong direction – that is, against the will of God – He will show
you how to pray and take it in the direction of victory for the glory of
God…It’s teamwork. You may be alone in a room when you are praying but
countless other members are on the prayer warrior tem who are working together
to keep the enemy from achieving his goal…Pray that God will give you insight
into His Word every time you read it…Ask God to help you understand His calling
on your life and to give you a vision of what He wants to do. You need that” (p.188.)
“Ask God to show you the
truth about what is going on in the world…Newspapers or nightly news programs
on TV…show only what they want you to know…Only God can show you the whole
picture because it can only be accurately seen from His perspective… Pray that
your eyes to open to the truth in every situation and reveal the strategies of
the enemy. Pray to be able to see into the invisible spiritual realm…Jesus
commands both the army of angels in heaven and the army of believers on earth
and coordinates them so that the heavenly army helps the earthly army…Your
prayers are vital. Every prayer can save a life, change a life, spare a life or
redeem a life” (pp.190, 191, 193).