Know Your Enemy

posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood -- contending only with physical opponents -- but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere. -- Eph. 6:12, AMP

I think, as we are praying for the upcoming election, we need to be very careful that we don't focus on a person or group of people as being the opposition...we need to recognize that this is a spiritual battle, first and foremost.

I've received numerous emails, read several blogs naming names of candidates to pray against (and, being a reader of varied interests, I've seen arguments both ways).

Perhaps, instead of praying for or against specific people, we should address our warfare against the real enemies...those master spirits who are in charge of this present darkness.

Regardless of who our next president is, God is still on his throne.

My Scripture reading earlier this week had me in the end of 2 Kings, and I found an interesting situation. Hezekiah was king, and he was a righteous king; There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. -- 2 Kings 18: 5b-6 But Hezekiah got sick, and was told to put his house in order because he was going to die. Hezekiah mourned, and God not only healed him but gave him a miraculous sign that he would be healed.

Hezekiah lived 15 more years. During those 15 years, he gave a group of ambassadors visiting from a little kingdom north of them the grand tour of the palace and all the treasuries and he fathered a son.

The ambassadors were from Bablyon, who later invaded, conqured and carried Judah away into captivity, and the son was Manasseh, who became king at age 12 and did more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and...led Judah into sin with his idols -- 2 Kings 21:11.

Were Hezekiah's extra years a blessing or a curse? As Aslan says, 'No one is ever told what would have happened.'

What looks reasonable to us may not be in the long run. What makes the most sense to me may not be what God has in mind, because of His long-range plan.

I simply can't tell what God will do with this situation. But I trust Him.

So...my prayer is not that Candidate A or B will win; my prayer is that God's choice will occupy the White House. I will vote according to my convictions, but those are based on incomplete knowledge... because even the best human knowledge is incomplete.

And in the meantime, my prayer is to bind spirits of dissention, deception, strife, jealousy, selfishness, bigotry, fear and hatred.

There is more to Manasseh's story...the rest is in 2 Chronicles 33. The Assyrian army captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose and took him captive to Babylon, where in his distress, he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God. (vs. 12 - 13).

Upon his return, Manasseh set about righting his wrongs. He fortified the city, got rid of foreign gods and idols, restored the LORD's altar and sacrificed offerings.

Manasseh's grandson Josiah was the greatest reformer king Judah ever had.

We can't tell from the beginning what the end will be. We can't tell from the middle what the end will be. So pray against the spirits and powers of darkness, vote, and trust God.

Because He is trustworthy.