Author: Dr. Mark D. Flattery 

Chapter Thirteen

Victory Action #10: Be Alert and Pray for God’s People

 

“And the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (I Chronicles 12:32, KJV).

 

The soldier fought gallantly that day on the muddy and blood stained battlefield. He was fighting to push back the forces of evil and to protect his homeland. The diabolical enemy had pressed forward but he was standing firm with his battalion to declare, “No more! Your advance ends today!” But, his ability to do his part to thwart the enemy came to an immediate halt when he was dropped to his knees by a sniper’s bullet that shattered his right forearm.

Within minutes, the medics found him and were beginning to carry him off the battlefield to find treatment. But, the soldier stopped them and pointed to a fellow warrior who needed medical assistance more than he. Knowing that bleeding out was a distinct possibility, he knew that he could not live with himself if his colleague died.

Instead of turning away from the heat of battle, the soldier found other wounded whose bodies scattered across the meadow, abandoned, and screaming for help. He found an inner strength, unknown previously to him, to carry a fellow warrior off the battlefield to safety. Unsatisfied with saving one life, he strove to do more and reentered the field of battle. He continued this process until the sun descended past the horizon. Exhausted, he relented that he had done all that his strength allowed. Dozens upon dozens of men, some say up to seventy-five soldiers, were saved that day and made it home to tell their wives and children of the one who risked his life in their behalf.

One man, who placed the lives of his fellow brothers over his own, did what was needed to be done. While he would continue to fight the internal battle of the guilt of not being able to save every wounded soldier, the families of those he did save thanked the good Lord for his bravery and for bringing home their loved one.

 

We have made it to the final victory action! Victory Action #10 is Be Alert and Pray for God’s People. This comes from Ephesians 6:18b which reads, “With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Let us consider the phrases in this verse.

First, “with this in mind” directs you to be mindful of our entire study up to this point. You were knocked down by life. You considered with me the defensive strategy so that you would not be hit again. Then, we studied Ephesians 6 to learn how life could be rebuilt as the core of an offensive strategy which leads to a victorious life. Now, Paul is admonishing you to remember all that you were taught; “with this in mind.” Learn your lessons. Apply God’s truth to your life. Work diligently to rebuild your life as you are led by the principles of the Bible and specifically the passages discussed in our study. Choose life. Discover freedom that comes only by serving the Lord and playing by His rules.

Second, “be alert” directs you to be like the mighty men of Issachar in I Chronicles 12:32 who “had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.” Stay awake spiritually. Be vigilant to keep guard of yourself personally, your family, and those in your circle of influence. Be aware of you where you are in your walk with the Lord, set goals for growth, and create strategies to achieve those goals.

Also, being alert is a challenge to choose how you will respond when life takes another punch at you. It is your choice to keep focused on Jesus in spite of the circumstances. For example, in Philippians 4, the Apostle Paul wrote, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12b-13).

One of my favorite passages is Habbakuk 3:17-19, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” Even when life knocks you down to the point of physical suffering, you will find strength in the response of believers who endured the harshest persecution. In Acts 5:41 we read, “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

Choose to be content, to rejoice, and to consider it an honor to suffer for the Name of Jesus. You can control your thoughts. When challenged, you can find encouragement from God’s Word and also from other believers who will stand with you in support.

Being alert is a positive challenge, as well, as you have a choice as to how you will live. You can choose to honor God in your time at work, your leisure time, time with loved ones, time with people who cannot repay you readily, and even how you spend your money. It is your choice!

Being alert equips you to take control of your life and positions you to receive benefits. The benefits that come your way will include living a life without regret, living life in “power and of love and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7), and living a life that establishes your legacy and is one that will make your children proud and want to emulate you. Most importantly, being alert with the truths of God’s Word will align you with the Will of God and help you grow in obedience to Him in your life journey.

Our study together brings a defensive and offensive strategy as to how you will respond to the events of life that bring anxiety, fear, a sense of hopelessness, and bewilderment. You can put on the armor of God and stand firm. You can live in truth, righteousness, peace, faith, hope, with the Word of God, and pray in the Spirit. You are equipped for the fight! God is on your side and the Holy Spirit is present to counsel and empower you to victory. You are not alone as you have Christian community of brothers and sisters in Christ who will support and encourage you during your life challenge. You are an overcomer!

Third, “and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people” in the last part of the verse is a directive that challenges you to live beyond being self-focused to thrive in Christian community where you encourage and edify others.

Life’s trials can knock us out of balance and make us so self-focused that we lose sight of God’s call on our lives and the fact that we are blessed to be a blessing to others. A natural response to being knocked down by life is self-protection and withdrawing from life for self-examination. This appropriate but, only for a season. We need times to pull back from life so

that we can evaluate, heal, and be energized. But, times of being self-focused must be defined clearly or we will disqualify ourselves from living life as God intended.

An indicator of where you are in the process of rebuilding your life is how engaged with others you can be without drawing attention to yourself, rehashing the dramas of your life, or extricating yourself from relationships to live in isolation. Caring for others … genuinely caring for others … is a positive indicator that healing is occurring and you are on the road to victory. Healthy people can rely on the Lord to deal with their life issues AND to bless others.

Life has meaning when we live in God’s context. He did not create you to live alone but to be engaged with others. While you may, or may not, be blessed by being with everyone you encounter in your daily life, you can be a blessing and a positive influence to them. When you are living in “God’s context” then you are engaged actively with family, friends, the Christian community, and those who are in the world. True living does not focus on “me,” my wants, desires, and cravings but, on how together we can fulfill God’s Will in our lives. The concept of living life to the fullest finds fulfillment as we are connected with others in righteous relationships. A life focused on “self” is just that: a selfish life that loves things and uses people instead of loving people and using things.

Paul is teaching you to “keep on praying for all the saints.” Our response to this begins by following the directive: we pray! We pray for each other for all aspects of life such as protection, healing, victory over sin, rescue from temptation, and direction from God. The list is seemingly endless because we are to pray about everything! Prayer unites us with those for whom we are praying and it unites us with the Lord. Prayer helps us understand better the situations of the ones needing prayer and challenges us to go beyond a superficial response. In fact, when we take seriously our responsibility to pray, we will discover that this leads us to

move into tangible action when given opportunity. So, with that in mind, I will expand the idea of praying to mean that we must bless others.

The Bible has so many verses that encourage you to be a blessing to others. Here are some for you to consider:

· Proverbs 11:25, “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”

· Proverbs 19:17, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done.”

· Proverbs 22:9a, “A generous man will himself be blessed …”

· II Corinthians 9:6-8, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

· James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

· James 2:14-17, “14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

· Galatians 6:2, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

When you care for other people you will receive the reward of feeling good about your actions because helping others is the right action to do. Also, the Lord will see what you do and reward you accordingly because He blesses those who bless others.

It should be noted that Paul exhorts you to continually pray “for all the saints.” You are in a community of believers who form the family of God. In essence, those in this community are your brothers and sisters. Your bond with them is not made by your commonalities in economic status, ethnicity, or even friendship. Your bond is forged by the blood of Jesus which is a way of saying that your acceptance into the family of God, and your commonality with those already in this community, is due solely to your obedience in following Jesus Christ.

Just as you are to take care of your personal family, as seen in I Timothy 5:8, you are to take care of those in the family of God. In Acts chapter two, we read of people who were Christ-followers and then baptized by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). The Apostle Peter stands before a crowd, preaches a sermon and “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day” (Acts 2:41). What follows immediately is an account of how these new believers interacted with each other.

They considered themselves to be members of this new community, devoted to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship with other believers. It reads, “All the believers were together and had everything in common” (Acts 2:44). The results were that they enjoyed “favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily to those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). Taking care of each other in their community was a practice application of John 13:35: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” The believers care for each other was a testimony to unbelievers of the love of Jesus Christ. So, your

priorities as you seek to grow in your relationship with Jesus is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:36-40). Your “neighbor” is first, but not limited to, your brothers and sisters in Christ.

We are not to neglect the poor nor are we to overlook our responsibility to reach unbelievers with the love of Christ. We can do both. But, your blessing of others can start within the community of faith and continue in outreach to those in the world.

Victory Action #10, “Be Alert and Pray for God’s People” is vital to your spiritual health and wellbeing. Life knocked you down. But, when you stand, regain your balance, and follow diligently after God, you will discover that you will bring others with you. In a sense, you have multiplied yourself as you stand with others. Instead of being in the boxing ring of life by yourself with the Devil, you stand with the family of God. You are not alone.

A man knocked to the canvass of life focused on Christ, took control of his personal drama, and rebuilt by the principles of God’s Word. In this process, he invested in his three children so that they would be equipped to engage in the battles of life. His attitude was, “You may have knocked me down, but I will do my best to ensure that the three who follow me are victorious.” While they have to fight their own battles, and engage the enemy in their own seasons of life, they would enter the ring knowing the One who stands with them and for them and His name is Jesus.

 

 

For You to Consider

 

1. Share about how the admonition to “be alert” applies to your life and what you must do in response.

2. Name five specific people and/or situations and pray for them.

3. How can you tangibly be a blessing to others? Select three people who need someone to bless them and ask the Lord what you can do in response.

 

Scripture for You to Pray Today: Galatians 6:2, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

 

What is the Lord saying to you right now?