The importance of intercessory prayer is even greater today than ever.
As this peace emphasizes, we need to 'soften up the enemy' before we can defeay him.

When America decided to go after the Taliban in its war on
terrorism,
there were a lot of warnings about what a difficult battleground
Afghanistan can be - and what a tough enemy the Taliban would be. That is
why so many of us were so surprised when the Taliban fighters seemed to
retreat so quickly from city after city in Northern Afghanistan as the
Northern Alliance advanced. But Taliban defectors said that the relentless
American bombing had really affected their morale. The U. S. military
strategy going into the Afghan conflict was not a new one - begin with an
air war, heavy bombing to "soften up" your enemy before the ground forces
make a move. As we learned in the Gulf War, it can lead to a surprisingly
quick victory.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today
about
"Softening Up The Enemy."

Some of us have lost some of our battles - or had much tougher
battles -
because we didn't apply this kind of strategy. If you want to win, take
some time to soften up your enemy before you go in to fight the battle. In
the military, it's the air war that prepares the way ... in spiritual
battles, it's the prayer war.

Nehemiah models that for us in Nehemiah 1, beginning in verse 4, our
word
for today from the Word of God. He is a Jew serving as a servant to the
king of Persia when he receives a report from Israel about the devastation
of God's ancient capital city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah is burdened to do
something to rebuild the holy city, but it looks like Mission
Impossible. First, it can't be done without the king's permission -
something that was pretty unlikely. Secondly, where are the rebuilding
resources going to come from? Well, Nehemiah knows that, humanly speaking,
nothing is going to happen unless the king of Persia, the most powerful man
in the world at that time, gets behind it.

So what does Nehemiah do - just go running into the king's throne
room to
share his burden? Nope - first Nehemiah goes into the Throne Room of "the"
King to wage the prayer war that will ultimately bring about
victory. After hearing about the devastated situation back home, Nehemiah
says, "For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of
heaven. Then I said: 'O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who
keeps His covenant of love. Your servant is praying before You day and
night for Your servants, the people of Israel. Oh Lord, give Your servant
success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.'" That
man was the king.

As a result of what was at least four months of this kind of
praying, the
king's heart is open - he empowers Nehemiah to lead the rebuilding of
Jerusalem and even provides the resources to do it. Just one illustration,
and there are a lot of them, of how a prayer campaign can literally prepare
the way for a victory that would otherwise be impossible. Maybe like the
victory you need right now.

So, before you go running into your battle, would you soften up the
enemy's hold with passionate prayer? Pray for hearts to be softened, for
doors to be opened, for Satan to be paralyzed, for the help and resources
that are needed, for the dangers to be minimized. And like Nehemiah did,
focus your prayer on the greatness of your God, not how great the challenge
is - and clean out whatever sin-garbage that you're hanging on to that
could cost you the victory. When you pray like that, you are paving the
way for victory that will be nothing short of amazing.

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News source: USA Today, 11/13/01. "Put the World in Perspective" by Karen S.
Peterson. Page D1

Today's "A Word With You Challenge" is based on Ron Hutchcraft's life-book,
"Called to Greatness: Becoming a Lifeline For Those Who Need Hope." (Moody
Press) To find out more, visit:
http://www.calledtogreatness.com