Welcome to the May 2012 Prayer Vigil!

In 1972, a book by the author Hal Lindsey was published with the title “Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth”. That was forty years ago and today Satan is still alive and well and continues to wage war against the disciples of Jesus Christ. We need to be alert, vigilant and constantly in prayer in case we fall into his traps. It will be beneficial for us who are in the midst of this war if we pray and re-acquaint ourselves with this powerful but invisible enemy.

Satan means “adversary” (1 Pet. 5:8 ESV).  Satan is the chief fallen spirit or angel who has become the enemy of God, opposing God’s plans and those who belong to God. He is known in the Bible by many names and descriptions which describe his work, power, position and his nature, such as “the devil” (James 4:7) which means slanderer, “the evil one” (1 John 5:18-19), ”the prince of this world” (John 14:30), “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4), “the ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Ephes. 2:2), “Beelzebub” (Matt. 12:24), “the tempter” (Matt. 4:1-3; 1 Thess. 3:5), “the deceiver of the whole world”, “the great dragon” and “the old serpent” (Rev. 12:9).  Satan brought evil into the world and the fallen world is under his control. Although he is subordinate to God and actually restricted to what God permits (Job 1:12, 2:6; Luke 22:31), his goal is to ruin and destroy everything God has created and thwart God’s plan of grace toward mankind.

Satan is powerful and shrewd and commands a network of “his angels” (Matt. 25:41) or demons with spiritual power to fight and deter those who work for God as we see in Daniel 10 where “the prince of the Persian Kingdom” is representative of Satan.

Pray — Father help us to be patient as we carry out work in your kingdom because there are many battles and events going on that are invisible to us. Help us to be aware of our place in this cosmic struggle against evil and not be presumptuous or proud, but let us be careful and wise. Just as the Archangel Michael recognized the power of your enemy and relied on the Lord in his dispute with the devil (Jude 1:8,9), so too may we rely on the power of our Lord Jesus Christ in our struggles against Satan. Thanks be to our Lord that Satan has no hold on Jesus (John 14:30, 31) but that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:10).

The Bible tells believers to be alert and sober minded because “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Pet. 5:8).  When we experience suffering we need to resist him and stand firm in our faith so that eventually God will restore us and make us strong, firm and steadfast (1 Pet. 5:9, 10).

Pray– Father, your enemy is powerful and dangerous and seeks every opportunity to harm us.  May we constantly us. May we constantly submit ourselves to you and resist the devil so that he will flee from us (James 4:7).  Give us strength when we face difficulties or suffering to resist the devil and stand firm in our faith.  Thank you Lord that as we continue to abide in Jesus – “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 18-19).

The Bible warns that Satan “masquerades as an angel of light.  It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.” (2 Cor. 11:13-15).

Pray — Father, you have revealed to us that we are fighting a war where the enemy constantly tries to deceive us and make accusations against your people.  Give us wisdom and discernment, a thorough knowledge of your word and attentiveness to your Holy Spirit such that the things that are from God and the things that are from man will be clearly revealed to us (1 Cor. 2:9-14; Matt. 16:23), so that we will not be led astray and become ineffective in your kingdom.

We are in a struggle not against flesh and blood “but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12).  We need to be “strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” and “put on the full armor of God so that we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes” (Eph. 6:10,11).  The word of God is the “sword of the Spirit” which is a powerful offensive weapon (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).  The other offensive weapon against Satan and his kingdom of darkness is prayer and we are told to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (Eph. 6:18).

Pray

- That IBC is a church where people will witness and experience love,    repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation and restoration of relationships, healing, wholeness and hope, and where people are strengthened to live righteous and holy lives for the Gospel and the glory of God.

- That IBC is a church where the word of God is accurately taught and handled, and where the word of God is evident in people’s lives.

- For health and healing for – our church assistant Brenda Chu, Wendy Teh(undergoing chemotherapy in New Zealand), James Paul (who had his secondangioplasty procedure on April 30), Edward Chan’s parents (suffering from cancer), Pastor Dan, Doreen, Y.M. Chen, Beatrice Ariwi and Henry Koo.

- For the Youth and Young Adult Minister Search and for those ministries.

- For the growth and strengthening of the Men’s Ministry.

- For the Lord to provide a coordinator and sufficient workers for the Children’s Ministry.

- For God to protect Kaushic Biswas during his detention by the Mainland authorities and for his quick release. Pray also for his wife Dang and the children as they go through this difficult time.

- For the leaders of the church and for the deacon nomination and election process.

“… and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.” (Matt. 6:13) .

[This prayer guide was prepared by Charles Ip]