Zechariah 3:1-7 (NASB) says, “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, ‘The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?’ Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, ‘Remove the filthy garments from him.’ Again he said to him, ‘See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes. Then I said, ‘Let them put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the LORD was standing by. And the angel of the LORD admonished Joshua, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, If you will walk in My ways and if you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here’”.

Joshua, the high priest, prayed with an angel in front of him and the devil resisting him. Sometimes you may feel like the when you pray, but your focus on the resistance blinds you to who is there for you all of the way. The greatest purpose of the enemy is to hinder and resist our prayer life, but it is best to know who is standing in front of you and that God is listening! Satan will use various tools to accomplish this, which include busyness, complacency, distractions, intimidation and boredom.

Prayer is a vital part in spiritual warfare. The sword and lance are the only offensive weapons you need (Ephesians 6:10-18) because it is how you advance the kingdom of God. The sword represents the Word of God, which is two-mouthed, meaning that when you speak what God speaks it is the most powerful weapon for hand-to-hand combat. The lance works as prayer because it will go where you cannot reach. Full dependency and trust is in the LORD, and as you draw near Him, He will fight your battles, launching air strikes upon your adversary. Always make time for prayer, which is speaking to and hearing from God, in a place of devotion because it is the only way you will grow in a relationship with God and obtain a consistent walk with Him! 

Through prayer and fasting, we are near to the Father’s heart, walking in the authority of the kingdom (Matthew 17:21; Mark 9:29). If prayer and fasting are hindered, so is revival. The three greatest hindrances to revival are pride, fear of man and tolerated sin (The Fire That Never Sleeps, pp. 223-226). “When the question is asked: ‘What hinders revival?’ one of the simple answers is this: We do not have men and women who are prepared to pay the same price to preach the same message and have the same power as those revivalists of the past. Without these firm believers, the community can never be changed. Our concern is conciliatory, our obedience optional, our lack theologically and cultural justified. Quite simply, it costs too much” (The Fire That Never Sleeps, p. 223). Are you willing to pay the price? Are you willing to go deeper in prayer? You must be determined to do what is necessary to be consistent in prayer, which is praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Start today! It is the key to greatest awakening we have ever seen in this generation.