Summary: Our prayer motivator verse for today is Ephesians 3:14 which reads: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." <br><br> Our thought for today is that the busiest work takes place in the prayer closet. <br><br> Our prayer motivator quote for today is from John Wesley. He said, "Prayer is where the action is." <br><br> Our prayer motivator devotional for today is titled THE PRIMARY FOCUS IN PRAYING FOR LOST SOULS IS TOWARD SATAN from J. Gordon Henry.: <br><br> There are three directions to focus your praying for the lost: toward Satan, toward the Savior, and toward the Saints. Today, we will discuss focusing your prayers for the lost toward Satan. <br><br> The first target should be Satan. It is the power of Satan that holds the sinner in bondage. You will remember that Jesus did not deal with surface problems, but the power behind the problems. When Jesus revealed to the disciples that He would go to Jerusalem, where He would suffer many things, be killed, and raised again the third day, Simon Peter told Him that He did not know what He was talking about. Jesus realized the power behind Peter's remark and targeted Satan: "Get thee behind Me, Satan" was his response. <br><br> Paul spoke directly to the demon who possessed the young girl in Philippi in Acts 16:16-18. He further described spiritual warfare pointing out that we are not to use carnal weapons in the flesh, but spiritual weapons that can pull down the strongholds that enslave people. By the way, note that the strongholds are in the mind---"imaginations", "knowledge" and "thoughts". In Ephesians 6:12, Satan's spiritual hierarchy of organization is given. Satan is not omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent, but he is organized. After a believer gets his armor on, the first activity mentioned is prayer since prayer is where the battle is fought. <br><br> The primary focus of evangelism is toward Satan. 2 Timothy 2:25-26 tells us that a lost person is "bound by the god of this world" and is in the "snare of the devil taken captive by him at his will." 2 Corinthians 4:4 says that he has "blinded the minds of them which believe not". The devil is the "strong man" who must first be bound and Jesus is the One who is stronger than the devil who can bind him. Through prayer, we need to appropriate the truth that Jesus has perfectly defeated Satan totally. When Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, He conquered Satan. Further, redemption means that Jesus has bought us out of slavery, redeemed and ransomed us. Satan's strongholds can be attacked directly through prayer. <br><br> Before a lost person can be saved, Satan's stronghold needs to be torn down and this is accomplished through intercessory prayer. The conquest that Jesus has accomplished must be appropriated. It doesn't mean anything at all for the devil to be defeated 2000 years ago if we don't awaken to that fact and claim the work of the cross. In prayer, an intercessor can exercise the faith of Calvary standing against Satan. The word of command that we have been given is the authority in His name to bind what He has bound and to loose what He has loosed. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can command obstacles and hindrances to the will of God to get out of the way. Before a lost person can believe, God wants us to cooperate by binding and loosing---rebuking and standing against Satan. Rebuking Satan on the lost person's behalf and binding him from that person's life is the role that an intercessor plays. <br><br> + Plus, listen to the Mississippi Mass Choir singing "Don't Stop Praying"
