Praying Against Spiritual Resistance

Have you ever tried to share the gospel with someone and hit a wall of spiritual resistance? If we are to effectively share the gospel and pray for people to receive it, we must pray against spiritual resistance. Here are eight simple prayer suggestions for counteracting spiritual resistance and strengthening evangelism opportunities.

Notice Spiritual Resistance in Yourself

• Pray for yourself. Ask God to burden your heart for those who need His love (2 Corinthians 5:14). Ask for a balance of fearlessness (Ephesians 6:19) as well as clarity and sensitivity (Colossians 4:4-5) in presenting the gospel.

• Believe that the Lord is able to reach even the most resistant people. Affirm Jesus’ words: “With God all things are possible” Matthew 19:26 (NIV).

Recognize the Spiritual Resistance in Others

• Pray for the names of those who don’t know God personally. Stand on the Scriptures “one died for all” 2 Corinthians 5:14 (NIV), God “wants all men to be saved” 1 Timothy 2:4 (NIV), “not wanting anyone to perish” 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV). Though there is no guarantee that someone will say yes to God’s grace, God has said “YES” to all people in the atoning sacrifice of His Son.

• Ask the Lord to prompt those who need redemption to seek it. Jesus said clearly, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” John 6:44 (NIV). Ask the Holy Spirit to make this person sick of his or her sin or empty lifestyle, plant seeds of truth, and stir a desire to seek reconciliation with God. In light of eternal destiny, we can be bold in asking God to do whatever He needs to do to shake and wake a person to spiritual reality.

Name Causes of Spiritual Resistance

• Ask the Spirit to reveal the reality of sin, the requirement of righteousness to be reconciled to God, and the fearful inevitability of judgment (John 16:8) to those who don’t know Christ.

• Ask God to reveal himself and to reveal what Jesus did on the cross for those who need hope (1 John 2:2).

• Boldly confront the enemy. Pray with precision, faith, and authority to silence and subdue the influence of any evil spirit that devours the understanding of the Word of God. Pray that the strongholds spoken of by John will be bound: “the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does” 1 John 2:16 (NIV). Satanic spirits energize and exploit these strongholds. If we first ask God to reveal Jesus to a person, then we can move on Jesus’ authority to get right up in the enemy’s face and break his blinding and binding grip.

Rise Up Against Spiritual Resistance

• Ask the Lord each day for “divine appointments” with people who don’t know Jesus. An effective ambassador should be able to pray with authority and be able to give answers that open a door to God’s redeeming grace.

This is harvest time. The devil surely knows it. Let’s rise to the occasion and move on the commission our Lord gave to Paul: “I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” Acts 26:17-18 (NIV).

Adapted from Pray! magazine, Issue #2, 1997. Written by Tom White. Used by permission from NavPress.