Covenant Church

If ever Saints needed to pray it is now.

Do we forget that the walls of communism fell virtually bloodless? Do we forget that overnight numerous countries shook off the yoke of more than 70 years of oppressive regime that made horse stables of churches, imprisoned and put to death Christians, and built monuments to atheism?

Wars can be fought without a lot of blood being shed. A war is being fought. Ephesians makes clear that wars are fought in heavenly places between angelic beings. Wars are fought spiritually on earth.

In the last years of his life my brother Ken came back to Jesus. With his body struggling to hold on to life he lay helpless in a hospital bed. I sat by his bedside. We were both silent for a time, and then he said: "Harold, do you understand what is happening in this hospital? There are demons running up and down these hallways and in the rooms. They are fighting for the souls of people who are dying. They are trying to wrestle away faith in Jesus. They are sowing evil thoughts. They are pulling people toward pits of darkness. If it were not for the drugs that patients are being given you would be hearing people scream as they are going out into darkness! There is war in these hallways. But there are angels who are protecting those who have trusted in Jesus."

I remember that day. It was a day to remind me that bloody wars can be fought without blood being shed.

Our country is at war. The spirit of the anti-Christ is rampant. We are so politically divided that we are forgetting issues of abortion and sexual perversion. Many churches are being divided along political lines. Folks are looking to politicians in hopes they will be able to live the life they want to live without Christ and a cross.

Covenant Church has made a decision to rise above the fray. We will not be dulled in our spiritual senses by the din and roar. Our calling is a holy calling. We are members of the Body of Christ.

A congregation 56 years of age, we call ourselves to be obedient to the mission Christ has mandated for all His followers: We are to preach, teach, evangelize, baptize and make disciples. We have prepared well. We have not been ignorant of the times. We have prayed about and planned for this time of battle. We are not caught unaware. We have anticipated that the Church would increasingly be embattled as the Coming of Christ approaches. We have heard the Call of God. We have answered. We are committed.

May we covenant that when we come together as a Body of Believers in Christ we will praise no Name but Jesus. We will promote no cause except His holy cause. We will have no purpose higher than to promote the agenda of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19, 20). We will occupy until Our Lord comes.

During World War II the Japanese employed the services of a woman called Tokyo Rose. She would be at the radio at night talking to American soldiers and wooing them with her feminine voice. Her efforts were to weaken the morale of soldiers, to make them think failure, and to discourage them in battle.

Hell is employing soldiers to whisper defeat into the ears of even the saints. Hell is waging a spiritual battle .The Bible prophesies the hearts of many will fail them. Hell knows that we have become too wrapped up in things. We have become much too earthly bound. Even saints in the Church have run to and fro looking for favor of God that would increase their bank account, bless their stocks, and enable them to buy bigger and better.

God is bringing our country to its knees. Our military cannot fix it. Our Congress cannot fix it. Our politicians cannot fix it. November 4, Election Day, will not fix it. We are off the path on a dirt road to nowhere. Our country needs prayer. We have bathed ourselves in luxuries while Buddhist temples and Muslim mosques have erected spires against our blue skies.

If ever we needed to pray, It is now. If ever the saints needed to come together, It is now.

If ever we needed to repent for our nation, It is now. If ever we needed to pray for discernment to understand the spiritual battle for the souls of men, It is now.

If ever we needed to open our eyes and understand how many missionaries around the world will suffer if America stops giving, It is now.

We pray. We must pray. We will pray. We will open our hearts to God with a renewed zeal to search out His ways.

It is time to pray.

Ephesians 5