God's Battle Plan: Prepare, Pray, Trust and Do

As I was having lunch with friends several months ago, we started talking about the reality of the spiritual battle we’re engaged in as God’s children. Each of us shared about some of the challenges we were facing and how we needed prayer. One friend looked at me after I shared and in a serious tone asked, “What’s your battle plan?” The question stayed on my mind throughout the weeks ahead and providentially converged with my quiet time one morning as I was reading 1 Chronicles 5. Through this seemingly obscure passage, God revealed his prescribed battle plan which involves preparation, prayer, trust and doing what he’s called us to do.

Preparation

Amid a genealogical list of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, God records a battle that occurred when the Reubenites, Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh, waged war against four other leaders and their armies (1 Chronicles 5:18-22). The Israelite army consisted of 44,760 men, who were ready and prepared for service. They were “able bodied men who could handle shield and sword, who could use a bow and who were trained for battle” (1 Chronicles 5:18).  They had been preparing for upcoming battles and were adept at using all the necessary weapons so that they could win, and not just fight, the war. 

This principle of preparing for physical battle can be applied to our lives as believers. The apostle Paul reminds us that we have a fierce enemy and are engaged in an ongoing epic battle, which is primarily a spiritual one that requires preparation (1 Peter 5:8; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6). Paul exhorts us to “be alert”, to “be on guard”, and to be prepared to “resist [the devil] by standing firm in our faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9). 

In several key passages he outlines our weapons so that we know how to prepare for the battle. The weapons we are given to fight with are spiritual “weapons of righteousness” to be ‘held in the right hand and left” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 6:10ff; 2 Corinthians 6:4, 7). He then provides a complete list of the weapons we will need in Ephesians 6, beginning with the offensive ones and ending with the defensive weapons – the sword of the Spirit and prayers. 

The double-edged sword we’ve been given is the spoken Word of God (Hebrews 4:12). The Bible implores us to prepare by meditating on the Word day and night and memorizing it, so that we can live and speak it at all times (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 119:11).  It is only as we prepare each day by suiting up in the whole armor of God and making use of his weapons of righteousness that we can stand firm and keep standing when the day of the evil, fierce battle comes (Ephesians 6:13). 

Prayer

The writer of Chronicles does not document the details of their battle against the opposing armies but includes the important reality that “They [the Israelites] were helped in fighting them, and God delivered the Hagrites and all their allies into their hands” in answer to their prayers (1 Chronicles 5:20). 

While there is no record of the troops and the commanding officials leading them in worship and prayer as we see with Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20, we know that they offered prayers that God both heard and answered. In humility, the army and its leaders daily prepared for war but knew that ultimately the battle belonged to the Lord, who is the captain of all the great armies of the earth (Deuteronomy 20:4; Joshua 5:13-15). He alone can break a bow of bronze and deliver his people from the jaws of the enemy, causing wars to cease (Psalm 46:9). 

As we prepare for the spiritual battle by daily meditating on and memorizing the Word, we also need to remain watchful in prayer. Paul writes about the essential role of prayer in his armor passage, where he exhorts believers “to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18). Throughout his epistles, Paul records specific prayers that further reveal how we should pray. Among these, he exhorts us to keep praying earnestly and at all times. 

As we pray according to the Word of God, the Holy Spirit strengthens us, gives us wisdom from on high and fills us with his power, love and soundness of mind (Ephesians 1:17, 3:16-17; 2 Timothy 1:7). Through these prayers he prepares us to withstand the lies which the enemy sends like fiery darts – seeking to accuse God and malign his Word so that we cease trusting him (Ephesians 6:16). He reminds us of our own identity in Christ and the role we have as soldiers in his army – that we are more than overcomers in Christ (Romans 8:31-39). And he assures us that all our future battles have already been won at the cross. This confidence enables us to remain in his peace and trust him for victory in the battle (Colossians 3:15). 

Trust

The next and most important aspect of the Israelite’s victory is recorded in the last part of verse 20: “He answered their prayers because they trusted him” (1 Chronicles 5:20). Scripture doesn’t say he answered them because they merely prepared or even prayed, but because they trusted in him.  This crucial position of their hearts was somehow necessary for them to experience God’s prevailing victory over their enemies. 

We see in the Bible that trust is the heart position that resolutely declares that God alone is God and that he is able and willing to do everything he promises (Job 42:2). Not only that, but trust believes that God desires our best and is a “rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). As our younger daughter likes to remind us when we face insurmountable obstacles by human standards, “God can, God does, and God will.” 

Trusting God does not mean that he will do all things according to our understanding or wisdom or that he will deliver us from every evil attack the way we envision deliverance (Isaiah 55:8-9). Sometimes he delivers us into the lion’s den to show us his greater glory or he delivers us into a prison to teach us to trust him in the darkness and to prepare us to lead others out of their prison. But he delivers us, nonetheless. He is with us in resurrection power in the lion’s den, giving us courage to stand firm as the enemy roars relentlessly and seeks to devour us. He is with us in the prison cell, where there are sparse supplies of everything we thought we needed to survive and yet we find ourselves content, singing hymns of praise at midnight (Acts 16:25-26; Philippians 4:11-13). 

Do

After preparing, praying and trusting, the Israelites stepped out in faith and fought the battle. God gave them victory, enabling them to seize livestock, take captives and occupy the land. It’s likely they felt fear and maybe even dread about what could happen, but instead of allowing feelings to dictate their actions they stood firm and advanced against the enemy. 

Like the other three principles, this one applies to us in the spiritual battle. If we prepare, pray and trust but then shrink back in fear we will not move forward. True faith always moves us to listen to, trust and do what God has asked us to do. We may not see, sense or feel God’s presence during times of intense battle, but we can be certain that he is with us and will not forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6). Our feelings may try to tell us that what he’s calling us to do is too hard, the battle too intense, and the odds too high, but we can be sure that if God is calling us to this battle it is one we are equipped in Christ to fight – as we remain in him (Philippians 4:13; John 15:7).

Summary

Standing in God’s victory in the spiritual battle requires the golden chain of preparation, prayer, trust and then doing what God has asked us to do. As we begin by submitting to him each day and releasing everything we are and have into his holy hands (Romans 12:1-2), we are able to stand in a position of humility to receive his marching orders for that day (James 4:7). He promises to train our hands for war and teaches us to walk in the Spirit so that our lives bear much fruit for his glory (Psalm 144:1; John 14:26; John 15:8). 

As we remain in him and use our gifts and talents to prepare for the battle, we can pray confidently – knowing that if we ask anything according to his will, he will do it (John 14:14). With each promise we pray, our confidence grows stronger in the Lord, so that we begin to trust him with all our heart, refusing to rely on our own understanding (Romans 10:17; Proverbs 3:5-6). This kind of authentic trust always moves us to bold action (Hebrews 11;). Like David when he heard about Goliath, our seasons of preparing, praying and trusting will give way to victory for the glory of God. And just as he delivered Israel from the hands of their enemies in the battle, he will deliver us and take care of us. “The one who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). 

“The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:18).

Repent and Believe

There are different ways of sharing the Gospel and different experiences people have when they become Christians. However, the core truths of the Gospel must be present along with Jesus’ call to “repent and believe,” which involves being born again of God’s Spirit (Mark 1:15; John 3:3.

Some say that in order to receive this transforming gift of salvation all one needs to do is believe, which is true. But when they use the word believe, they take it out of the biblical context, which always infers a change of heart and direction or rather the ingredients of knowledge, assent and trust. Because of this, true belief always includes repentance -- turning from trusting in ourselves to trusting in Christ alone to save us. Isaiah 30:15 emphasizes this as a basic, biblical principle. “In repentance and rest is your salvation. In quietness and trust is your strength.”

Proponents of easy believism often refer to the act of making a decision to follow Christ as if they are talking about merely believing something exists and that it's good. But Scripture never talks about salvation through this lens except in a negative way. James writes, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shutter” (James 2:19). Instead, Jesus began his earthy ministry with the call to repentant faith when he said, "Repent and believe" (Mark 1:15). He is repeatedly referred to as Lord in the Gospels and calls for his disciples and us to "Take up your cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). He says that we need to carefully count the cost before putting our trust in him -- loving him so much that we are willing to forsake all to be his disciples (Luke 14:33). 

Jesus' instruction to Nicodemus are his very words to us -- we must be born again of the Spirit. While many come to faith in Christ as children and cannot remember turning from a dark lifestyle of rebellion, it's important that we all know that we have been born again. This radical regeneration is not a moving around of furniture as one pastor is known to say, but is a dying to sin and the flesh and being made new in the likeness of Christ through the indwelling Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:20). This transfer from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light cannot be missed just as one could not miss it if they were brought up from the dead and given new life in their lungs (Colossians 1:13).

The charge from the apostle Paul for all is to "examine yourself to be sure you're in the faith" (2 Corinthians 13:5). I've included a link below to a Desiring God article that provides clear evidences that a person has experienced regeneration. In reading the article I hope you will know with certainty that you have been born again. And if you realize that you are not, you will get on your knees today, repent of your sins and surrender your heart and life to Christ —  declaring him to be your Lord and Savior.

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/am-i-truly-born-again

Losing Our Life to Find It

Jesus spoke in Kingdom language that was and is impossible for the unregenerate mind to understand (1 Corinthians 2:14). He explained this divine mystery to Nicodemus and the other Pharisees, who doggedly questioned and accused him of confusion and even demon possession because they could not apprehend his teaching. Jesus told them that if they were ever to understand spiritual truths and see him rightly as the Messiah King, they must be born again (John 3:1-21).

One Kingdom lesson Jesus taught the disciples and crowds that was particularly difficult for them to embrace was his call to take up their cross and follow him (Matthew 16:24-26). The cross signified horrible suffering, shame and loss and was not something anyone – even the lowest in society – wanted to be associated with. In particular, the cross represented the epitome of a defeated life for the religious, who sought to make a name for themselves and who found their identity in the praise of man.

When Jesus said we must take up our cross and follow him, he meant that we must be willing to carry the burden of sacrifice, surrender and suffering in our identification with him. Part of this, he showed, is refusing to love, cling to and seek to build our own life according to the way of the world system. Jesus warned that one who seeks to hold onto his life here as opposed to surrendering his life to build the Kingdom of God will, in fact, lose their life.

How can loss be gain?

But the one who trusts Christ and his words, who is willing to let go of and even despise his life, will find it (Matthew 10:39; Luke 14:26). How can this be? How can we experience the abundant life Jesus promised by giving up our life and our rights to live the way we want and by taking up a cross?

The word life here in Greek means vapor, which helps to explain. Since our life on earth is a mere vapor, seeking to cling to it by living for the American dream -- success, comfort, riches and the praise of man is empty and vain pursuit, which Solomon discovered at the end of his life. Declaring this life and its pursuits under the sun to be “meaningless, meaningless” or “enigma, enigma,” he implores us instead to live for God and to seek to honor him above all (Ecclesiastes 1:1, 12:13). The apostle Peter also warns us to turn away from the “empty way of life handed down…by our forefathers, since we have been bought with the precious blood of Christ and redeemed from this meaningless existence (1 Peter 1:18-19). 

Those who seek to find life by holding on to it, Jesus promises, will forfeit his grace along with his gift of eternal life (Jonah 2:8). Many refuse to connect the dots from his promise in Matthew 16:25 back to a former one about receiving the gift of eternal life through faith in him (John 3:16). While eternal life is a gift that cannot be revoked, Jesus shows that the one who is truly saved is the one who now lives and walks in newness of life like Jesus did and, as a result, takes up his cross to follow God (Matthew 7:22-24).

Jesus was not adding a work to our justification by commanding faithful, ongoing obedience to take up our cross and deny ourselves but was showing that all regenerate children will be cross bearers who have turned away from idolatry of all kinds (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Revelation 22:15).

What about you and me?

Since Jesus’ words contain a life altering message, it’s important to ask ourselves the question, “Have I yielded my life along with my family, money, possessions, reputation and plans to the Lord? Have I rejected the world’s standard of seeking to promote my kingdom and instead taken up my cross to follow Christ and make his name known? Am I willing not only to live for him but to die for him? If we have not taken this step of faith, we are not born again. As we see throughout the book of Acts and through the teaching of Jesus, John the Baptist and all the New Testament writers, the Spirit begets in us a repentant faith that changes us from the inside out and reorients our desires to live for Christ  (Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:15; Acts 17:30). This saving faith radically renews and empowers us to turn away from trusting in ourselves to listen to, trust and obey the Lord and his good commands. If we have not surrendered to his Lordship, as Thomas did when he bowed the knee declaring, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28), then we need to turn to him today in repentant faith – yielding our very lives to him to receive his gift of life-altering, mind-transforming eternal life. 

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26-27).