Spiritual Discipline

There has been an unseen war waging behind our Christian lives. Often in ignorance, we are least bothered what's going on in our Christian lives. But recently the Lord gave me a very subjective experience of such spiritual warfare going behind the scene, especially stronger when new cities or new believers have to be gained for the Kingdom of God. The spiritual atmosphere of a place is very much dependent on how much the saints have prayed for it. And for this there is a need for spiritual discipline especially in prayer. To borrow a phrase from Andrew Murray, to be "With Christ in the School of Prayer." If Christians are not disciplined in their prayer life there will be too many loopholes and life leakages, and Satan's basic strategy is to make sure believers does not pray or at least make them too busy to pray. Again, quoting Andrew Murray, "He who does not set time to pray, also does not pray." So here is the need for a disciplined "set time" to pray a very strong, strategic and intercessory prayer. "For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies." Eph.6:12

Last year the Lord burdened me to pray with a brother in Shillong over the phone almost everyday, and we did it faithfully for about four months. In prayer the Lord had prepared us in spirit, and many thing had transacted between us. When we finally met this year for the first time, we were just in one spirit and our fellowship was so sweet, just in one flow. All the hurdles had been dealt with through prayers already and when we met it was just the harvest of what had been already sown. This led to the recovery of the brothers and those believes with him into the fellowship of the Body of Christ and into the oneness of the Body of Christ, standing as the church in Shillong, a local expression of the universal Body of Christ. Hallelujah!

Today, I was so disturbed spiritually and the feeling was that I was too weak or too lazy to pray. Immediately I sensed this as the attack from Satan and exercised my free will and also my spirit to pray at least an hour. As I started praying, slowly the flow of life came and I enjoyed the Lord's anointing and the Spirit gave burdens to pray for and even He prayed in my praying. What started off with a determination ended up in the sweet anointing of the Lord. Here's the need for discipline, even to buffet our body, yes, even to win over our soul to spend time with the Lord.

Lord, grant me, by Your grace, a spiritual discipline, especially in my prayer life.