Telling the Truth

Stuart Briscoe: Now, the Bible teaches we're living in a war zone. All of us are living in a war zone. There's a battle going on, the battle between good and evil, Satan and God. And we're right in the middle of it. In fact, more than just being spectators, we're participating in it. We're on one side or the other.

Jill Briscoe: We have to choose a side in the battle that is going on, the spiritual battle, the unseen battle. And when we come to Christ, when we invite Christ by His Spirit into our lives, then we are on the right side. We're on the victory side.

Guest (Male): No matter if you feel victorious or defeated, if you're a believer, you're on the victory side. Today, Jill Briscoe continues her series, "Prayer That Works", and focuses on the spiritual battle that is prayer. Jill begins in just a moment.

Your generous support keeps broadcasts like this one today going out around the world so you and others can experience life through the teaching and resources of "Telling the Truth". And to thank you for your gift today, we'll send you Stuart and Jill's powerful new five-message series, "Fighting Unseen Forces". It's all about how you can live victoriously and win the battles against your spiritual enemy when you stand in Christ and the power of His Spirit.

So call today to request your copy: 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388. Or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Let's turn to Jill now for the message, "Chariots of Fire".

Jill Briscoe: We're going to talk about battle, prayer battle. But the battle is the Lord's. And I believe the battle that we are in is won in prayer, won on our knees. So as we come to this story that we're going to use out of the life of Elisha, we're going to read about a battle, a literal battle, but also a spiritual battle that was going on. So if you'd turn with me to 2 Kings chapter 6.

The life of Elisha now. We've moved on from Elijah to the one who took over from him in the ministry. 2 Kings chapter 6, verse 8. "Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, 'I will set up my camp in such and such a place.' Well, the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: 'Beware of passing that place because the Arameans are going down there.' So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again, Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places."

"This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officials and demanded of them, 'Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?' 'None of us, my lord the king,' said one of his officers, 'but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.' 'Go find out where he is,' the king ordered, 'so I can send men and capture him.' The report came back: 'He is at Dothan.' Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. And they went by night and surrounded the city."

"When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. 'Oh my lord, what shall we do?' the servant asked. 'Don't be afraid,' the prophet answered. 'Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' Underline it, learn it by heart. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And then Elisha prayed, 'Oh Lord, open his eyes so he may see.' Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he looked, and he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."

"As the enemy came down towards him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, 'Strike these people with blindness.' So He struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked. Elisha told them, 'This isn't the road. This isn't the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you're looking for.' And he led them to Samaria. After they entered the city, Elisha said, 'Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.' Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked, and they were inside Samaria."

"And when the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, 'Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?' 'Do not kill them,' he answered. 'Would you kill men you've captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.' So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they'd finished eating and drinking, he sent them away and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel's territory."

What a marvelous story. What humor in it. Absolutely wonderful. Elisha is obviously on good terms, at this point, with the king of Israel. This is not to last for very many more chapters. But at this point in his life, he is on good terms. And the king of Israel goes hunting, and the king of Aram decides to set some ambushes and catch him. But every time he's out hunting with a few men, he doesn't turn where the king of Aram thinks he is, and he doesn't find him.

Why? Because Elisha is telling the king of Israel and warning him. And so the king of Aram gets very upset and demands who the traitor is, as we have read, and decides when he learns it's Elisha, this prophet that's doing this hokey-pokey and magic and telling the king things that he has no idea how he finds out—he decides to go and capture him, either for one or two reasons. One, to kill him, or to get him on his side. I mean, he could do with a prophet like this that tells him all the moves of the enemy.

We don't quite know why he sent the whole army to capture him, but he did send a huge force. Enough to surround the city of Dothan. Dothan was in a valley and there were plains all around, and it lent itself to siege. And so they go by night, and in the morning very early, the servant gets up and opens the door and walks outside and sees that they are surrounded by horses and chariots. And he shouts out—he freaks out, actually. First of all, he freaks out before he shouts out. He just freaks out.

And he says, "Oh Lord, what are we going to do?" Now, I really appreciate that. I've often felt surrounded by all sorts of things that were pressing in on me and shouted out, "Lord, what will we do?" Well, Elisha isn't phased because he is seeing what the servant doesn't see. And he asks God in prayer, "Open his eyes. May he see that there are superior forces on our side." And then he asked for another miracle, that the men would be blinded.

People do not believe this was physical blindness, or how could he have led the army to Samaria? They believe that God confused them and that they did not recognize Elisha. And so they thought he was some sort of scout who offered to lead them to Elisha. He said, "Come with me, I'll take you to the man." And so, blinded to the reality of the situation, he leads them to Samaria, which is where the king of Israel is. And immediately the king of Israel is very, very thrilled and wants to slaughter them all.

And he says, "Now wait a minute. Let's humiliate them instead." So they feed them and they send them back to their master. Now, it's very, very interesting that they see these chariots. When Elisha asks that the servant's eyes are opened, they see chariots of fire and horses round about—who? Round about the other soldiers. So you've got Elisha and the poor little servant here in the middle, and then you've got ringed around the city real horses and chariots.

And then you've got around them real horses and chariots, real-real ones. Spiritual, yes, but really real. As real as the real horses and chariots. And yet they are spiritual. Now, the Bible teaches we're living in a war zone. All of us are living in a war zone. There's a battle going on, the battle between good and evil, Satan and God. And we're right in the middle of it. In fact, more than just being spectators, we're participating in it. We're on one side or the other.

We have to choose a side in the battle that is going on, the spiritual battle, the unseen battle. And when we come to Christ, when we invite Christ by His Spirit into our lives, then we are on the right side. We're on the victory side. Now, I know that now where the Second World War was concerned. I look back and say I was on the victory side. But I didn't know that when I was right in the middle of it. I needed perspective. I needed to come beyond it. I needed to be able to look back on it to be able to say, "Yeah, we were getting blitzed a bit night after night, and the bombs were falling all over us, but I was on the victory side because I know what happened."

I've read the book. Final chapter of history, World War II: who won? We won. And a Christian has to get that heavenly perspective to realize, even though you're in the middle of it now, it's won. And one day, from a heavenly perspective in heaven, you'll look back and say, "Yes, we were on the victory side." But you can know that in faith now. With the eyes of faith, you can have God open your eyes to the fact that you are on the victory side.

Guest (Male): No matter if you feel victorious or defeated, if you're a believer, you're on the victory side. Today Jill Briscoe brings a message centered on the power of prayer in spiritual warfare. Jill begins in just a moment. Before we get back to Jill, here's a note from a listener in the UK. Her name is Sonia and she says, "Thanks for all the wonderful, encouraging messages all through the year. It's such a blessing to me. May the Lord bless you."

Thanks so much, Sonia. That's the kind of blessing you can bring into people's lives through your gift of support today, as you help share God's word around the world so more people can experience life through "Telling the Truth". And when you give this month, we'd like to bless you with a copy of Stuart and Jill Briscoe's new five-message series, "Fighting Unseen Forces". Every day you're locked in a battle with your spiritual enemy, one that threatens your spiritual, emotional, and relational well-being.

But you're not alone, and you're not without help. And in this powerful series, the Briscoes will show you straight from God's word how you can live victoriously each day. You'll gain confidence in knowing that you'll never be overpowered in your spiritual battles, as you discover that the fight's not even fair when you have Christ and His Spirit. "Fighting Unseen Forces" is our thanks for your gift to help more people experience life through the teaching resources of "Telling the Truth".

So request your copy when you call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, we head back to Jill Briscoe.

Jill Briscoe: Now, some say that the Second World War was the war to end all wars. But the Bible says no, the war to end all wars started in heaven, Genesis, and with the fall of man. There is a real war going on where all children of the Blitz, we face a real enemy worse than Hitler, who has a real agenda, real powerful forces on his side, agents of destruction under his command.

I don't know how people can open a newspaper and not believe there are evil forces that go beyond what human minds could think up. Humans doing things to humans that just beggar the imagination. Even what we could do at our very worst, depraved, cannot account for things that happen in this world. And sometimes when people are really honest, they say, "Yes, there is something going on on a national level, an international level, and also on a personal level."

Now, when I was a little girl, I was alive and able to understand the different battles that took place. And there was one particular battle which most historians say was a pivotal turning point of the war, and it was the Battle of Britain. And those of you that perhaps have seen war movies in the archives remember that, actually, our planes were flown by British and basically Polish pilots. Polish underground people that had escaped and had come.

And they were crazier than the Brits in the air. But it's a marvelous story of how those Polish young men, 17, 18, 19 years of age, and the British young men, their counterparts, saved Britain. The war, Churchill said, was won in the air. The war was won in the air with a handful of planes compared to the Luftwaffe, but with some men with such spirit in their hearts for the battle and such fight, willing to give their lives and all, that the Battle of Britain was the pivotal turning point of the war.

Now, the bigger war is won in the air as we pray. The bigger war is won in the air as we pray. And you know the very famous passage in Ephesians 6 where Paul is talking about, "we fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and the rulers of darkness in high places." And then he goes on to say, "So you've got to have armor and you've got to have equipment." And he uses this as a parable, that we've got the Bible and we've got prayer and we've got the breastplate of righteousness and we've got the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation. It's a wonderful, wonderful passage in the Bible.

And so, this prayer is where the battle takes place. I think it was Oswald Chambers, yes, who said, "The secret prayer chamber is a bloody battleground. Here violent and decisive battles are fought out. Here the fate of souls for time and eternity is determined in quietude and solitude without another soul a spectator or listener." Secret prayer chamber is a bloody battleground. Interesting thought, but I believe it.

And when I read that list of things about my prayer life, there was one of them that Ruth Paxson drew to my attention—my heart attention—it was that to be able to grow up in my prayer life enough to be able to pray beyond my own family and my own needs. How much time do I spend on my own family and my own needs, battling for the souls of men? Now, this battle that is going to be won in the air is going to be won when we realize and believe we are surrounded by hostile forces, when we're scared, rightly so, of the opposition, and we cry out to God in dependence, "Oh my Lord, what shall we do?"

We cannot fight this battle. We are helpless. The devil is far stronger than we are. But as the little girl said, "When the devil knocks on my door, I send Jesus to answer it." He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world. Those that are with us are more than those that are with them. Right. And so we recognize we are surrounded by hostile, terrible forces. The devil has sent horses and chariots and a strong force against us. And he surrounds us.

And he surrounds our children, and he surrounds our family, and he surrounds our church. But who is surrounding the devil? Chariots of fire. Thousands of ten thousands of ten thousands of God's forces. And who is the Captain? Jesus. He is called in the Old Testament, Captain of the Lord of Hosts. He is on the white horse. He is the one who is commanding His forces on our behalf. And so after we have been surrounded, after perhaps we've been scared, we can know that we are secure.

And we learn in prayer and through the word and as we grow in our Christian life to trust God. We are on the winning side and we have all that we need in weapons of our warfare to wage war, knowing that in the future, we're going to celebrate this great victory that has already been won through death, through the cross and the resurrection and ascension of Christ. As I was doing a Bible note for some work I'm doing on a Bible, I came across 1 Chronicles 5:20.

And it says, "They cried out to God during the battle and He answered their prayer because they trusted Him." They waged war in their endeavor to possess the territory God had given them. They were also armed with shield, swords, and bows, but their greatest weapon was prayer. Through prayer, the help came. They were helped in fighting them, it says in verse 20. They were helped in fighting them. That's the word for the Holy Spirit, the helper of Israel.

You're going to be helped in fighting these forces. As soon as we cry out to God during the battle, whatever that battle of life may be, the battle becomes God's and not ours. That's the passage that says, "the battle is the Lord's." Some are fighting for our homes and families. Some fight despair, fear, worry, or depression. Some fight to gain ground in confidence. If we will only cry out to God during the battle, we will occupy the land.

So if we keep on crying out, God will keep on giving us victory. And so they cried out during the battle. Next time you're in essence, you're in a very personal battle in prayer for someone else or for yourself, remember, cry out to Him during the battle. And as you transfer your trust from your own self-effort of coping with this and give that control to God, then all the forces of heaven are put at your disposal. And those that are with us are more than those that are with them.

Guest (Male): In the midst of your own personal battle, remember to give the control to God. Jill Briscoe will pick up right here on tomorrow's broadcast. In a moment, she's back to answer questions about the importance of a good, solid prayer life. Spiritual warfare is very real, and it's a war in which every Christian is engaged. The truth is, your spiritual enemy will stop at nothing to keep you from experiencing the abundant life God wants you to have in Christ.

The good news is that through Christ and the power of His Spirit, you're guaranteed victory. It's that encouragement that Stuart and Jill are excited to give you with their new five-message series, "Fighting Unseen Forces". This powerful resource will encourage you with the comforting truth that you're not alone when it comes to spiritual warfare. As you grow in God's word with this series, you'll gain clarity of purpose, courage for battle, and strength for each day.

"Fighting Unseen Forces" is our way of thanking you for your gift to help more people around the world experience abundant life in Christ through the unchanging truth of God's word. Simply request your copy of the series when you call today and give a gift to help keep the ministry of "Telling the Truth" going around the world. Call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now Jill's here to answer a few questions today's message may have brought to your mind.

Jill, why is a good, solid prayer life so important in spiritual battle?

Jill Briscoe: Well, it's just obvious. Why is a good communication life between a husband and a wife so important in any battle, life itself, etc., etc.? You can't have a relationship without words, communication. And so I keep coming back to this very simple thought: think about prayer as your language with God, as your word language with God. And it's very obvious: the better you learn to hear His voice through His word and many times in the thoughts in your head, that's going to help you when you're tempted, when a spiritual battle suddenly appears and you didn't expect it.

Or it will help you when something bad happens to you that you'd prayed wouldn't and it does, and the other voice says, "See, God didn't look after you." Then if you're in the word, if you have answers of scripture, you can just say, "Get gone, Satan, in Jesus' name. Lord, put one of Your words in my head." Learn to understand which voice is speaking to you. And remember, the devil spoke to Jesus in His thoughts using scripture. So you've got to know your Bible really well. It was out of context and it was scripture twisted. You have to know your Bible really well to know, because he will even use scripture.

Guest (Male): Should a believer be scared of the spiritual battle?

Jill Briscoe: Well, I don't know. I'm scared. Why wouldn't I be? The devil's very scary. He's real. He's not going to give his people that he has, who haven't come to faith, up easily. They're his. And so to go in the name of Jesus and seek to lead people to belief in Christ, you step into a war zone. And who wouldn't be frightened? They'd be stupid not to be. So even though we're scared, we know the end of the battle story. We know the end of the story: He will win the final battle. Maybe not the battle we're in—maybe the devil will win it—but should we be scared? We should be appropriately awed by the fact we are not measured for the devil, and what we need is the armor of Christ. And you can read about that in Ephesians chapter 6. There is an armor He gives us to fight this battle that we're in. Are you wearing it? Have a look at it.

Guest (Male): Thanks, Jill. We hope today's message encouraged you. Now, before we go, remember that when you give today to help keep "Telling the Truth" broadcasts like this one going out around the world, we'll send you Stuart and Jill Briscoe's new five-message series, "Fighting Unseen Forces", to help you discover how you can live victoriously each day, knowing that with Christ and His Spirit, you're never alone. So call now to give and remember to request your copy of "Fighting Unseen Forces" with our thanks. 1-800-889-5388, 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Tomorrow we'll hear the second part of Jill's message about the spiritual battle and your prayer weapon. That's Friday on "Telling the Truth". We hope you tune in and experience life.