Spiritual Warfare: Why you need to pray until you get a breakthrough

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand ~ Ephesians 6:10-13

Our warfare is spiritual. Things happen in the spirit first before they manifest in the physical. Whether we are aware of it or not, the fact is that there are forces we cannot see that seek to control and influence the lives, events and destinies of men, cities, nations and so on. I believe that it is our responsibility to seek to understand how the spirit world works because first, we are spirit beings; secondly, life is spiritual and thirdly, the spiritual controls the physical. What this means is that nothing happens on this earth by default, including you. You first existed in God, in the spirit, before you ever came to be on earth. For anything to manifest in the physical realm, it must first be effected in the spirit. Battles must be won in the spirit first before victory is manifested in the physical. This means that for us to pray effectively, we must pray until we get a breakthrough in the spirit.

The spirit world is as real as the physical world, and it is also the control center of everything that happens in the earth realm. Things happen in the spirit first before they manifest in the natural world. What we see here on earth is not just a coincidence. Things don’t just happen; they are caused to happen by spiritual forces in the spiritual world.

There is a chain of command in the kingdom of darkness according to the above scripture and one of the most important things for us to know is that there is a spiritual battle that is continually raging on and as believers, we must be aware. Your awareness of such battle is extremely important because only then will you be able to take charge of the situation and engage the enemy.

I am well aware that there are many of us who have problems with the issues of the spirit and they don’t believe in them. But let me submit to you that your ignorance of the enemy does not change anything. The fact still remains that there is a battle taking place and your unwillingness to engage the enemy in warfare does not mean that the battle is not ranging. It simply means that you are losing. But once you realize that the battle is real, you can do the right thing by resisting the devil.

The harsh reality for many believers is that they are already under the influence and control of the enemy. We need to understand that God has great plans for us, and the enemy has his own plans also. His plans are meant to counter what God has planned for us. You have the power to determine who dominates your life. The enemy cannot control you outside of your will, meaning he cannot do anything without your co-operation or consent. A believer who understands this is in a better position to pray because prayer itself is spiritual.

Consider the case of Daniel for example. He began fasting and praying to God for three weeks, yet despite the fact that God released the answer on the very first day, it was delayed. Watch this portion of the scripture in the book of Daniel 10:12-13;

Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. …”

Even though Daniel’s answer was released the very first day he began seeking God, it never reached him. As far as Daniel was concerned, God was yet to respond to his prayer. In the physical, there wasn’t any form of manifestation. The prince of Persia, who of course was an agent of darkness, hijacked Daniel’s answer. It wasn’t until God sent Angel Michael to rescue the first Angel, that Daniel received his answer. Victory was first achieved in the spirit before it manifested in the physical.

Spiritual warfare is real and it’s one of the major reasons why many of us experience delays in our prayers. Some of us fight battles we know nothing about because in the spiritual realm, a serious opposition is going on. For a believer who doesn’t understand, giving up is the only option they have. Many have been deceived out of our places of prayer because we can’t comprehend why we have to pray for something for so long. In such instances, endurance and persistence is what we need in order for us to breakthrough, yet it is one of the things many of us are lacking in our prayer lives.

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart ~ Galatians 6:9

Just imagine what would have happened if Daniel decided to quit seeking God at that particular time? Most probably, he would have concluded that God doesn’t answer prayers and the prophecies he received at that time would never have come. Lack of endurance is one of the greatest causes of defeat in our prayer lives today and many are suffering because of it. We must discipline ourselves to endure and persist in prayer until we get a breakthrough.