CTU Prayer Strategy

We don’t just mean “Satan”. Yes, he is an enemy, but he also has specific cohorts of demons and strongholds that he uses to war against ministries that target Muslims. These need to be identified.

First, we need to be aware of what the common strongholds and lies are among the different UPGs. Ask yourself, “What are those strongholds we have faced in this ministry in the last few years?” In reaching out to Muslims, our ministry at CTU has faced several significant ones:

The spirit of Islam

An antichrist spirit that tries to distort the Gospel, water it down, and even tries to draw Gospel communicators into compromise.

A spirit of fear
Lying spirits that are used to specifically attack new MBBs. These lies might include:

 “They are going to use me”
 “They are just in it for the money”
 “If people find out that I’m following Jesus, negative things will happen & God may not come through” (“I’ll have to leave my family”, “I’ll be fired from my job”, “My loved one will disown me”, etc.)

Etc.

These strongholds identify the areas we need to target in prayer so that the seeker’s hearts would be open when they come across the posted ads.

I’ve felt led to divide this into two areas:

A. Evangelism & Discipleship of different UPG groups.
B. Social Media.

Here is where we need to ask the Lord to reveal the enemy’s strategy. These strategies might include:

Technical problems…
Radical Imams or other religious leaders learning about our strategy and try to discredit us, or worse.
Overwhelming us with contacts that are not true seekers resulting in little fruit.
Overall Discouragement (especially in prayer, but also in regards to evangelism & discipleship).
Spiritual attacks against our personal lives (including our families, possessions, ministries, jobs, etc.)

MECHANICS:

 Fasting and praying. (Invite Prayer Partners to be involved.)
 Start a physical prayer meeting (a physical “get together”)
 Have a call-in number for people who can’t make the physical meeting (see below).
 Using God’s Word (Every Prayer time/meeting ought to employ God’s Word)

SPIRIT LED PRAYER STRATEGY:

As we continue in prayer God will lead us to take further action steps. These are not simply “good ideas”. Rather, they are steps that are born out of prayer of which we sense a strong leading of the Holy Spirit, backed by God’s Word. We need to constantly be asking God, “How do we do this?”, “How do we pray for a, b, and c?” and “What comes next and when should we implement it?”

Remember, the multiple verses in God’s Word where He promised to give us the wisdom we need along with the appropriate answers (Jm 1:5-6, 1Jn 3:21-22, 5:14-15, Mt 6:6,18, 18:18-20, 21:22, Mk 11:24, Jn 14:13-14, 16:23).

This is an important step and is the courteous thing to do. We don’t want to come into God’s presence and immediately ask, petition, ask and petition. He doesn’t exist to do our bidding. By “entering His gates with Thanksgiving and praise” in our hearts (Ps 100:4) we recognize that the reason we are there is to serve Him and to do HIS bidding.
Taking time out for thanksgiving & worship helps us adopt the right attitude when we come to Him. It helps humble us in His presence.
Taking time out for thanksgiving & worship places us in the correct place to receive what he would give us. Our life is like a cup before Him. He wants to pour all of Himself into us and shower us with blessings. But we need to have our cups placed in the right location if we are to receive. A cup can’t be filled with water if it is not located under the spigot when it is turned on. The same applies to our prayer time. Thanksgiving helps us to get properly located in God.

Prayer flows more smoothly and with less obstacles once sin is dealt with. The good news is that if confession is needed, we can quickly get back on track so that our prayers become effective (see James 5:16). “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins...” (1 Jn. 2:1-2 NIV). It may be necessary to have a time of silence for us and/or others to get right with God. At times it may necessary to confront people privately in accordance with Mat 18:15-18. Either way, we don’t want to offer a gift to God while having an issue with a brother or sister (Mat 5:23-24).

In this ministry I think that the KIND of petitioning we will be mostly involved in is Intercession. Besides interceding for the ministry in general we will specifically be involved in interceding for PEOPLE. Three types of people need to be interceded for:

People who are Praying – This is often overlooked in our times of prayer. Prayer warriors need prayer. They are often the ones whom the enemy attacks first. If we have people who have committed to praying and/or supporting us, we need to spend time praying for them. When anyone comes into agreement with us through prayer it will automatically put them into the battle with us. The mission is not just about the workers and their field. Any time we exert an effort to serve the Lord and spread His Kingdom we need to humble ourselves and recognize that we are not alone.
People that are working – We need to intercede for ourselves and for other workers working in all aspects of the ministry with us. This is especially true for the UPG workers who are on the front lines sharing the Gospel and discipling others daily. People from UPG backgrounds often have to sacrifice the most to get the Gospel to their people. Therfore they will likely be in need of the most prayer.
People we are reaching – This includes those that have already made decisions and are being discipled as well as those that haven’t or are not being discipled yet.

 Once God has revealed what the enemy’s strategy might be (or if we find ourselves under direct attack), I always ask God to throw the enemy’s plans into confusion. I ask that God would render them powerless and of no effect (Heb 2:14 NASB). Sometimes I ask God for Scriptures to war with and then declare these truths boldly into the spiritual realm through prayer (Rom 10:8, Jer 5:14). We need to constantly remind ourselves that the enemy has no power over us. All his attacks are intrusions onto what rightfully belongs to our Lord. We have been given every right and all the power necessary to break off any attack. The enemy’s only advantage is our ignorance. That is why we regularly go before God and ask that that every his every intent be undone. We cannot remain passive in this fight. We must actively resist the devil by standing firm in our faith (I Pt. 5:8, Eph 6:10-20).

 Once God has revealed a strategy or plan of action that He wants us to follow we should always ask God to render it (and us) invisible to the enemy. The best attacks are surprise attacks. Ambushes. The less the enemy can prepare the more damage will be done. God’s Word has greater effect in a seeker’s life when the enemy hasn’t had enough warning to set up his defensive lies. That is why our media preparation needs to be surrounded by prayer and intercession. We are setting up spiritual attacks against the enemy’s strongholds and it is essential that he doesn’t see what is happening before God strikes. I often pray that God would take out his eyes and render him blind to our plans and our work. I pray that God would destroy his radar and take out his watchmen so that he has no idea what is about to happen. May God Himself set up the ambush (Dt. 33:27).

 Once you ask God for something be willing to wait. Part of Intercession includes waiting in God’s Presence. Don’t be afraid of silence. Sometimes God is just waiting for us to be quiet so that He can say something. Be sensitive to this.

 Finally, we want to strongly recommend a powerful book on intercession. If you haven’t read it, PLEASE pick up a copy of “Intercessory Prayer” by Dutch Sheets. This will help you tremendously in hearing God’s voice, discerning His will and understanding His strategies through intercession.