Throughout this three-part Teaching Legacy series, based on Derek Prince’s highly regarded book, Living as Salt and Light, we have understood the position, privilege, and responsibility God has given us as Christians to impact the country in which we live.
In his book, Derek makes this powerful statement: “The Church alone, of all the agencies in the earth today, has the ability to change the world situation effectively for the better.” In this third and final letter, Battling for Our Nation, Derek examines a vital principle: the spiritual warfare we encounter as we intercede for our respective nations. Understanding this reality will help us fulfill our responsibility to be salt and light in the country to which He has called us.
An Angelic Visitation
The principle may be found in the story of what the prophet Daniel encountered in the way of spiritual opposition. This narrative begins with a simple statement from Daniel: “In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks” (Daniel 10:2). Daniel was devoting himself for three weeks to special prayer and fasting in order to more effectively seek God. At the end of three weeks, the answer to Daniel’s prayer came in the form of a visitation from the archangel Gabriel.
Then he [Gabriel] 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.” (Daniel 10:12)
Daniel’s prayer was heard the first day, but the answer came on the twenty-first day. Why did he have to wait three weeks? Here is the reason Gabriel gave:
“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.” (Daniel 10:13)
Please note that “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” was not a human being; it was the spirit ruler behind the earthly kingdom of Persia. When Daniel started to pray for the restoration of Israel from its captivity (which was closely connected with the Persian Empire), and God immediately responded by sending the angel Gabriel with the answer to Daniel, this unseen evil power withstood Gabriel in the heavenly realm for twenty-one days.
The Initiative Lies with Us
Are you beginning to understand why the answer to your prayer sometimes tarries? Can you see that just like Daniel, you are involved in a spiritual war? The above account points to a tremendously important fact: it was Daniel’s prayer on earth that got the angels moving in heaven.
Friend, the initiative is with the Church; it is not with the angels. Outcomes depend on what we do. The angels are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14 KJV). We are not waiting for the angels; the angels are waiting for us.
When you begin to pray, you stir the angels up—and not only the good angels but also the bad ones whose rule you are disrupting. Maybe you have started to discover how true this is! Notice that it was Daniel’s prayers that opened the way for the angel Gabriel to come.
Do you understand what we have to do?
In relation to spiritual warfare, we are the people with the initiative. The world is waiting for us—both the unseen world and the seen world. We are the people who ultimately decide the destiny of nations. We are the salt of the earth; we are the light of the world.
Christ Operates Through His Body
There is another major reason why we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. As Scripture clearly states, we are the body of Jesus Christ (see, for example, Ephesians 1:22–23), and Jesus Christ operates through His body. God will not set aside His Son Jesus Christ, because it would be dishonoring to Him. Likewise, He will not set aside the Church, which is the body of His Son. In His sovereignty, God has limited Himself to doing through the Church the most important acts that need to be done. And “the Church” means you and me.
I trust you are beginning to realize this truth: you matter. It always grieves me to hear Christians talking about themselves as though they are insignificant, unimportant people. Everything depends on you. Your nation depends on you; your political leaders depend on you; the course of history depends on you. It is high time you realized this.
An additional picture of activity in the spiritual realm is provided for us in the twenty-fourth chapter of Isaiah. This passage depicts a final, tremendous, climactic judgment that will close this age. It is a time when the whole earth will reel to and fro, be turned upside down, and be shaken like a cottage or a hut in an earthquake. The coming of the Lord in glory is described as occurring at the close of this period. Isaiah 24:21 says, “It shall come to pass in that day that the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones, and on the earth the kings of the earth.”
Here we see the two realms again: “the kings of the earth” and “the host of exalted ones” (in the heavenly realm) who are going to be punished by God. That is the way it is: behind the visible is the invisible; behind the natural is the spiritual. And what takes place in the spiritual realm is decisive.
When you have victory in the spiritual realm, you have victory—period. Everything that follows in the natural, social, historical plane is a result of what has been achieved in the spiritual realm. That is why the Church is completely able to change the course of the natural and the historical. All that is needed is for us to secure the victory in the spiritual realm.
God Gives Us Spiritual Weapons
To close this message, let me direct your attention to one last Scripture. One of the aspects I love about the Bible is that it is perfectly logical. Since we are engaged in a spiritual conflict, what kind of weapons do we need? Spiritual weapons. And that is what we have been given:
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3–5)
We walk in the earthly realm, living in bodies of flesh in a world bound by time. But our warfare is not in that realm. Our warfare is in the spiritual realm. Appropriately, the weapons that God has given us correspond to the realm in which we have to fight. We cannot win with guns, tanks, or missiles, because they just do not reach the enemy we are dealing with.
Rulers in our present day are frustrated because they do not have the means to intervene where the outcomes are really decided. But you and I do have the means. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down Satan’s strongholds in the unseen realm.
Please notice the words in 2 Corinthians 10:5 which show how our weapons affect humanity: “…casting down arguments [reasoning] and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Strongholds, arguments, knowledge, and thoughts are all in the unseen realm. It is that realm that controls a person’s thinking, reasoning, and knowledge. The warfare of the Church is in that realm, and God has given us spiritual weapons that will insure spiritual victory—if we use them.
Volunteering for Service
You may be asking yourself, How do I use these spiritual weapons? I believe it is appropriate to invite you to pray about a specific theme: that God may equip you and enable you to play the part in the world that He is expecting you to play.
Perhaps you feel that up until now, you have not really been playing that part. Maybe you haven’t even been aware that God has called you to spiritual warfare. Yet now, having seen from His Word that you are called, you are a willing volunteer.
If that is the case, then I would suggest that you go to God’s altar in this moment of truth and just tell Him of your willingness. Offer yourself to God as a volunteer for the spiritual conflict—particularly as a volunteer in the spiritual conflict that will settle the destiny of your nation.
Father in heaven, I offer myself to You as a volunteer for the spiritual conflict to which You have called me. I ask You to especially use me to do battle in the spiritual conflicts that are being waged over my nation in the heavenly place right now.
Please use me, like Daniel, to fulfill Your purposes on earth through prayer and spiritual warfare in the Spirit. Equip me to play the part in the world that You have prepared for me, as I rely fully on You and Your mighty power. In Jesus’ name, amen.
