Prayer and Jesus, the True Watchtower

 

In his writings, legendary evangelist Smith Wigglesworth said, “The Word of God is not to be prayed about, the Word of God has to be received. If you will receive the Word of God, you will always be in a big place. If you pray about the Word of God the devil will be behind the whole thing. Never pray about anything which is ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ It has to be yours to build you on a new foundation of truth.” If you paused for a moment there to make sure you were reading that right, then you’re in good company. When I first had read that, I too had to double back and try to understand what he had meant. I remember thinking, “Why should we not be praying about the word of God?” Yet as I paused further to reflect, I eventually realized that although the difference between the two appears to be subtle, it becomes a bold and powerful perspective on prayer once we understand it and apply it to our lives.

In our last article, we discussed how Satan is like a circuit court judge and how Jesus’ authority and ruling will always be able to overpower the efforts of the evil one. In addition, it was mentioned that a case must be filed and submitted to a higher court before any review and overturning of ruling can be declared. In the Christian context, this method of spiritual “appeal” for us is our prayers, and if we believe that the wrong judgment was made upon our lives by the devil, then we confidently appeal to the Lord in our time of prayer.

But if we are to appeal to the Lord with a Wigglesworth approach, what might that look like? For example, if  the devil is trying to make a judgment that brandishes us as a hopelessly lost person who is forever enslaved by our past sins, we don’t just simply pray: “Scripture says in Isaiah 1:18 that ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool…’” Rather, a prayer that receives and imbues Scripture into our hearts may instead sound like, “Lord, my sins were red as scarlet, but God, you have made them as white as snow through the perfect sacrifice of your Son Jesus Christ so that my crimson red sins can be made as wool in the realm of the eternal!”

Or if we feel that the devil is trying to make a judgment upon us that tries to disqualify us from serving in the kingdom of God due to the insecurities we hold over ourselves, we don’t just simply pray: “Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 12:7 that “to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” Rather, a prayer that receives and imbues Scripture into our hearts may instead sound like, “Lord, I believe your word and your word says that I have been blessed with a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good of the kingdom of God and the Holy Spirit empowers me in one or more areas of my life to be more than a match for Satanic forces.”

This is what Smith Wigglesworth meant in the difference between praying about Scripture and receiving Scripture within our hearts so that we own our faith within our prayers. Praying with such conviction bolsters our hearts and our minds as it allows us to reach for levels of holiness that are essential in today’s day and age. 2020 clearly made it known that the path ahead is slated to be challenging journey for the world as a whole. Similar to a group of travelers who decide to venture into the wilderness, they will look at the surrounding landscape from a higher vantage point in order to get a proper view of what to expect. Once they climb into an outpost or a watchtower, they are able can see not only a proper path to pursue, but they can also be aware of any alarming situations like predators that are lurking about. In a large field with tall grass, a lion can successfully remain unseen and prowl without being noticed, but the same lion looks quite foolish to any onlookers if they can easily see it from a watchtower. This is precisely what we are called as Disciples of Christ to do: to operate on a level that is completely different than the evil one. Because we are lifted up and protected by Jesus who is our outpost and solid foundation, the devil’s attempts at spiritual warfare are unable to be hidden from us and we can then clearly see his presence and any dangers that may lay ahead.

To help us capture this essence and this passion in our prayers, allow me to leave you with one last quote from the writings of Smith Wigglesworth: “I never saw a man get anything from God who prayed on the earth. If you get anything from God, you will have to pray into heaven; for it is all there. If you are living in the earth realm and expect things from heaven, they will never come. And I saw, in the presence of God, the limitations of my faith, there came another faith, a faith that could not be denied, a faith that took the promise, a faith that believed God’s Word. And from that presence, I came back again to earth, but not as the same man. God [gives] a faith that could shake hell and anything else.”