This morning I was awakened very early with a strong urge to pray and intercede against the forces of the enemy that are hard at work trying to destroy not only the results of this presidential election, but seeking to undermine the very foundations upon which our country was founded 244 years ago by God-fearing people who were resisting tyranny!

I was reminded of the scripture in II Corinthians 10:3 and 4 which tells us, “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” (ESV) What we are seeing today in our society and country are the forces of good and evil, God and Satan, at work in the battle for truth and righteousness according to God’s Word to either prevail or be cut down to nothing; it is a battle literally for people’s souls! When men and women become a law unto themselves with no clear guidance, authority, or sense of what is right and wrong, anarchy, chaos, deceit, lying and fraud are the result! With no clear guidance, people struggle to find themselves and the meaning of their lives, and depression and anxiety become the new norm for them. It is a sad state of affairs!

How do we come against this stronghold of lying, fraud and deception, not only perpetrated by the corrupt media whose theme seems to be, “If we keep saying something over and over again you will believe it and it will become more palatable”, but advanced by our educational system beginning when our children are barely out of the cradle? Of course, individually we are not nearly strong or powerful enough to take action and overthrow the entire deceptive agenda that Satan has laid out for humanity as a whole. He was thrown out of Heaven many, many years ago because of this very thing which stems from pride. It appears from scripture that he actually was a musician (see Ezekiel 28:13-17) as this passage refers to his “tabrets and pipes” which suggest musical instruments.

Satan was cast out of Heaven by God and since that time has been “roaming the earth as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8) and propagating his lies and deception, often appearing as an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:14). Jesus said of him, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…” (John 10:10) and he is certainly good at his job. When you see deceit, lying and fraud you can always tell who is behind it!

So, once again the question: What can you or I as single individuals do about this? The short answer: Not much if we rely solely on ourselves. The wonderful answer is: Everything when we employ the weapons of our warfare against Satan! We have the victory through Jesus Christ and we win in the end! God is much more powerful than Satan every time and although it seems the battle is lost, the war is not over and our Victory is assured!! So, how do we take on this enemy who not only seeks to destroy our nation but each of us individually?

The answer is that we must use our weapons against him to break his assignment and destroy his strongholds! Strategically, there is only one source for this and it is found in the Word of God! When Satan came against Jesus in the wilderness, tempting him to sin on several occasions, what did Jesus do? He quoted the Word of God to Satan. Time and again he said, “It is written!” and Satan fled. James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Our weapons of warfare are listed: “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:11 and 12 – KJV)

Many things we are seeing are well hidden and only manifest through the light of the Holy Spirit as we intercede. Satan keeps things vague, confusing and dark, because a thief works best in the dark! We cannot hope to right all of the wrongs committed by demonstrating, complaining or talking; we must get in our prayer closets and pray against the assignment of the enemy! Then, God will show us what we need to do in tangible ways, as well. We cannot let lying and deceit win; we must fight for righteousness and praying for victory is never wrong! This is what our founding fathers would have wanted and now is the time for Believers everywhere to come together in powerful intercession.

Once we have done all we can do, we must stand. Verses 13 – 17 in the above passage add, “…having done all, to stand. Stand therefore….” and then it details the weapons: truth, the breastplate of righteousness, preparation of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” Finally in verse 18, Paul says,
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…” Sometimes that is the only way to pray as we do not fully know all God has in mind!

In the Old Testament when Israel and Judah had disobeyed God, had many wicked kings, and were in dire straits because the enemy was encamped about them, God told them to “watch” or “stand still and see his salvation”. He always delivered them!! If you begin to read through I and II Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, you will see this pattern repeated over and over again! God answered the prayers of the righteous even when the majority were disobedient and He always came through with victory! We can claim this promise of God today, as well, and stand back and watch God work! So be encouraged today as you listen to this beautiful hymn written by Martin Luther in 1529 which is based on Psalm 46:

“A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills, prevailing. For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and pow’r are great; and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.

“Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing; were not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle.”

I played my arrangement of this powerful hymn awhile back and would like to share it with you while you quiet yourself before the Lord in prayer and thank Him for victory which comes as we trust Him completely!