There Is a War Going On, and You’re in It

Spiritual battles are happening all around us—and whether we realize it or not, we are part of them. In this episode, Stormie explains that every believer is involved in a spiritual war between God and His enemy. Many people suffer the consequences of this war without understanding what is truly happening or how to stand in victory. Stormie reveals that prayer is the way God has given us to fight these spiritual battles and bring His will to Earth. She also shows how the compassion, concern, and burden we feel for others may actually be the heart of a prayer warrior forming within us. When we respond to God’s call to pray, we step into our role in His kingdom and begin making a powerful difference through prayer.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Stormy Omardian Podcast, where we explore the power of prayer to change lives, strengthen faith, and deepen relationships. In this episode, Stormy reminds us that spiritual warfare is real and that God has called his people to engage in it through prayer. She explains how recognizing this spiritual war and responding to God's call can empower us to stand strong and pray with purpose.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Hi, I'm Stormy O'Mardian, and I'm speaking today from my book, Prayer Warrior. This is episode one. If you're a believer in Jesus and have received him as your savior, you are in the body of Christ. This means you are in the spiritual war between God and His enemy. Even if you have not yet received Jesus, you are still in the war. You just don't know it yet, and therefore have no control over certain things that happen to you. You can be hit and hurt in the crossfire from the enemy of your soul and not realize what's happening. You could be suffering with problems like one accident or disease after another, trouble with relationships, problems at work, or financial trouble, mental torment, the consequences of bad decisions, the rebellion of children. The list is endless. You may think it's just bad luck, but it's not. It's crossfire from an enemy you don't even know you have. Believers can suffer from crossfire too, but that's because they don't understand a war is going on and they're in it. Far too many believers are being knocked around by the enemy of their soul and their life. But they think bad things just happen to them because that's the way life is. So they're not actively engaged in the war even though they are on the receiving end of the consequences of that war. They're attacked and become wounded and incapacitated because they are totally unprepared to face enemy opposition. They are completely uninformed about how to do battle. You must know that God has an enemy, and God's enemy is your enemy. You may think you're not at war with anyone, but you don't have to be at war with someone in order for them to be at war with you. You can think your spiritual enemy doesn't exist, and therefore you are not at war with him. But the truth is that no matter what you think, you have an enemy who is always opposing you. One of his favorite ploys is to convince you he doesn't exist. Therefore, he's not a threat. And you may be thinking, I don't want to think about or talk about the enemy. Well, I don't either. And we don't have to much. But we had certainly better acknowledge that he exists and that he is hell-bent on destroying us. We had better realize that just as God has a plan for our lives, the enemy has a plan for our lives too. And that plan is to rob, kill, and destroy us. The Bible tells us that. We must also recognize that God has given us a way to take dominion over the enemy and his evil works of darkness in our lives. Because if we don't understand this, if we ignore the enemy or pretend he doesn't exist, then his plans can succeed. As a believer, you are already involved in spiritual warfare. Whether you realize it or know it or accept it or recognize it, you may think that some of the difficult things that happen to you and to others or that are evident in the world around us are mere coincidence or bad luck. But it's far more sinister than that. Often those things are the result of the enemy's work in his battle against God and all God's children. This means you and me. You may think you are not in the war, but you are. You may believe that you don't have to engage in the battle, but you do. Too often when people contend in prayer for the will of the Lord to prevail in a specific battle, they think that once the battle is won, the war is over. But the war is never over, because the enemy never has a good day and is feeling kindly toward you. We cannot afford the luxury of foolishly thinking, if I don't acknowledge I have an enemy, then I won't ever have to engage with him in any way. I can stay out of the war completely. If that's you, may I politely say this to you in love? You are dreaming. You are living in a fantasy. The enemy has a plan for your life, and so does God. Which plan do you want to succeed? God gives you a free will and allows you to choose his will in your life. The enemy doesn't care a whit about your free will as long as he can influence you to bend it in the direction of his plan for your destruction. I know people who believe if they never acknowledge that the enemy even exists, and especially if they don't allow for the fact that God's enemy is their enemy as well, then they will never be drawn into any battle, let alone a war. But those who deny the war, refuse to see it, ignore it, or run from it are destined to lose it. Allow me to repeat myself. The truth is that we are already in the war. The war is never over until we go to be with the Lord. So it's better to stand and fight the way God wants us to. I've read the entire Bible countless times, and I know the end of the story. In the war between God and his enemy, God wins. This is not like earthly wars where people hope and pray they win. In this war, we have victory over the enemy, but we still have to fight each battle in order to see victory happen. Every battle is waged in prayer. Prayer is the actual battle. You know, during World War II, pictures were displayed everywhere that showed a man dressed in red, white, and blue trousers and tails pointing directly at you as you looked at the photo. And the caption said, Uncle Sam wants you. Uncle Sam, meaning the United States, wanted men and women to fight in the military. There's a similar image you need to picture in your mind, and that is a picture of Jesus looking at you, pointing his finger toward you, saying, Father God wants you. God wants you to fight in his army. Will you answer that call? You don't have to be afraid of battle terminology. There's no reason to fear words such as warrior or war or weapons or warfare. This is a spiritual battle. It is every bit as real as the fleshly battles waged on earth today. But in a spiritual war, the way you do battle is to pray. That's not scary. God's army is the only one where you can be deployed, but you don't actually have to go anywhere. The moment you say, Count me in, Lord, I want to join with the other prayer warriors to see your will done on earth, you are on active duty. When God puts a person or a group of people, a neighborhood, a city, or a foreign land on your heart, he has connected you to them in the spirit and you can intercede on their behalf. You are active as a prayer warrior. The moment you put words to your heartfelt feelings and talk to God about them, your heart will be deployed to wherever God sends you in prayer. If you think you may not have what it takes to be a prayer warrior, or if you are concerned that being a prayer warrior is too difficult, or if you believe you don't have the time for it, let me ask you a few questions that will help you see if you have the heart of a prayer warrior. Do you see people suffering and it bothers you? Do you want to do something to alleviate that suffering and feel unable to do enough? If so, then you have the heart of a prayer warrior. Do you recognize evil proliferating in the world? Do you long to find some way to stop this destruction in people's lives? If so, then you have the heart of a prayer warrior. Do you experience any injustice in your life? Or can you identify it in the lives of others? Do you see injustice marching forth in a seemingly unstoppable advance? Does it upset you? And you would like to have a way to change that? If so, then you have the heart of a prayer warrior. Do you observe wrong things happening around you and you want to write them? Do you recognize the culture of hate growing stronger and you are troubled by it? If so, then you have the heart of a prayer warrior. Do you ever have a certain person heavy on your heart and it concerns you, but you're not sure why? Do you know people who are going through terribly difficult situations and you want to do something to help them, but you don't know how? If so, then you have the heart of a prayer warrior. Do you observe tragic situations happening to people and feel helpless to do anything to stop them? Do you ever wish you could have done something that might have prevented such tragedy? If so, then you have the heart of a prayer warrior. Do you become grieved in your spirit when you see blatant disregard for God and his ways? Do you have sympathy for people who don't recognize their need for the Lord? Yet you feel powerless to affect their lives in any way. If so, you have the heart of a prayer warrior. In fact, if you said yes to any of the questions I just asked you, then you have the heart of a prayer warrior. Becoming a prayer warrior begins in the heart, sometimes without your even being aware of it. A prayer warrior has a heart of compassion for suffering people and bad situations and desires to do something to make a difference. When you tell God you are reporting for service as his prayer warrior, he will put specific people or situations on your heart that he wants you to pray about. You don't have to go searching for them unless you feel led to do so, because those needs will be quickly made known to you. For example, like you, I have many situations and people on my heart that concern me. Aside from going to battle in prayer for my own life and the lives of my family members and friends and neighbors, co-workers, and specific individuals I know of who need someone to stand up for them in prayer regarding the things they are facing, there are serious problems for others in the world that stand out in my heart above all the rest. As prayer warriors, we must remember that no matter how hopeless a situation may appear to us, God gives us power in prayer to do something about it. We may be overwhelmed by it, but God is not. We may not see a way out, but God can. Because of Him, we can make a difference. And if you think being a prayer warrior sounds like too much work, let me tell you what is really too much work. Burying your child. Being called to the scene of a horrible accident, getting a doctor's report about a terrible disease that you or a family member or someone you know of has been diagnosed with, the dissolving of a close friendship, the severing of family ties, bad relationships at work, suffering from loneliness, sadness, frustration, hopelessness, or misery, falling into debt, foreclosure, poverty, discouragement, sin, fear, dread, deep anxiety, or the breakup of a marriage. All of that is too much work. You may be thinking, are you telling me that all this happens when I don't pray? I'm asking you, can you tell me for certain that the enemy of your soul has nothing to do with any of this? That none of these problems are in any way part of his evil scheme for your demise? That he has nothing like this planned for your life or the lives of the people about whom you deeply care? Can you tell me that prayer has absolutely no effect upon any of these things that I just mentioned? Yes, we all do stupid things from time to time that get us into bad situations. And to some of us, it can appear that these things just happen. But how many times do you wish you had prayed for someone you know before their tragic illness or their suicide or their drug overdose or their teenager's accident or their break-in? Too many, I'm sure. We all feel that. I'm not saying we're responsible when bad things happen because we didn't pray. I'm saying bad things can be prevented when we do. And we are accountable to God for how much we pray, how often we pray, and how fervently we seek the leading of His Spirit as to what to pray. The world around us is in a desperate situation. Suffering is increasing. We can see it, we know it, we feel it. And that is too much work. I become weary when I hear people say, Well, if it's going to happen anyway, why pray? Please hear me out on this. Yes, some things are certain. To list a few, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, the annihilation of the enemy's influence on earth, the rising up of the Antichrist, and every prophecy in the Bible that has not already been fulfilled. But Jesus did not say to his believers, roll over and play dead until I come. He did not say, These things are going to happen, so just eat, drink, and be merry until they do. Noah. He said, We are going to occupy where we are, according to his will, until he returns. We are to worship him, read his word, and pray without ceasing as long as we are here. When we don't do these things, we are out of his will. There is no other way to see it. Far too much suffering happens because way too many people are not praying. We have to wake up as the people of God. Prayer is how God works on earth. That's his idea, not mine. I'm not just making this up. It's what the Bible says over and over. Countless good things will not happen unless people are praying about them. And terrible things will happen if we don't pray. God's asking us to listen for his leading. Would you pray with me about this? Lord, I thank you for who you are. And I pray that you will help me build my life on a solid foundation. I know there is no more solid foundation than that which is built on the rock, which is you, Jesus, and your word. No matter what is shaking around me, you give me a foundation that can never be shaken or destroyed. Help me to always keep in mind that I am instrumental in the war between you and your enemy. And victory in my life depends on my willingness to hear your call to pray. I know this is the spiritual warfare you want me to engage in, and prayer is the battle. Teach me to hear your call, to pray in power the way you want me to. Thank you, Lord, for the countless men and women whom you have called to be prayer warriors in this spiritual battle between good and evil, and who have already answered the call. I pray for the many who are still sitting on the sidelines, not realizing how they can become wounded by enemy fire. Help us all to wake up to your truth, Lord. Enable me to always hear the voice of your Holy Spirit leading me to pray. Show me where my prayer is most needed for myself, my family, and the people and situations you put on my heart. Show me how I should pray. Help me to not think of prayer as merely asking you to fix things, but rather taking dominion over the works of darkness as you have said to do. Help me to advance your kingdom in a powerful way. In Jesus' name, I pray. You know the Bible says bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Says that in Galatians 6, 2. This in a nutshell is what it means to be a prayer warrior. We take the burdens of other people to the Lord in prayer. That's intercession. Recognize the opposing work of the enemy and resist him in prayer. That is what prayer warriors do. You know, many storms have already come, but many more storms are coming. Things are shaking now, but much more will be shaken. If you have built on the rock and are praying, you will stand firm and survive the storm. That is one of the many rewards of being a prayer warrior. Start by saying, Lord, use me as your prayer warrior, and the Holy Spirit will lead you from there.

SPEAKER_00 20:24

Thanks for joining us. In the next episode, Stormy talks about what it means to stand on God's side in the spiritual war and why knowing Jesus personally is essential for every prayer warrior. She shares how learning to hear his voice and recognize the enemy's tactics equips you to fight the battles of life through prayer.