Battle Prayers

 June 15, 2023

In Colossians 2:1, Paul says something that hints at how he thought and worked: “For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you…” What is he conflicted about, and how did that conflict manifest itself? His choice of words makes little sense unless he is speaking of the spiritual conflict in which he engaged when he prayed for them. Verses 2 and 3 are typical Pauline language for how he prayed:

“that [your] hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

In 2:10, he uses the exact same terminology he used in his letter to the Ephesians to describe the spiritual entities with which he is in conflict: “and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” “Principality and Power”—these are the same spiritual beings he battles in prayer in Ephesians 6:12. Here, he tells us the heart of his prayers when he says, “in [him] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:3)

Everything centers on Jesus Christ. Reading our Bibles, going to church, praying—all the things we do as Christians—aren’t the goal. Christ is the object of all we are and all we are commanded to do. 

Remember that in prayer we engage the “principalities and powers, the spiritual forces of darkness?” (Ephesians 6:12). That sounds pretty formidable until we realize that through Jesus’ death on the cross (Col. 2:15) those powers are disarmed and humiliated. Their power is broken except for their ability to bluff and deceive. When we say we are under attack from Satan, we are giving him authority and power he no longer possesses. He is disarmed, and it is the Church which is attacking him, not the other way around. Our job is to refuse to believe his lies.

Prayer remains hard work, because our Enemy knows its power. As a wise person once said, the devil knows he can’t keep God from answering prayer, so he does his best to keep us from praying. In Colossians, Paul reminds us that Jesus Christ is at the heart of our faith, and that the primary object of prayer is Jesus himself. Keeping that focus is the hardest part of prayer.