Spiritual Warfare

I Got Your Back – I Got Your Six

/ Bob

I Got Your Back – I Got Your 6

Cyberwarfare is similar to prayer in that both are involved in warfare, both take place in an unseen realm, and both have human agents. In cyberwarfare the opposing agents are human. In spiritual warfare the antagonists are not human, but we, through our prayers, are the human agents of spiritual warfare.

The war is not coming. THE WAR IS ON!

You are under attack. You brothers and sisters in Christ are under attack. The entire human race – including your closest loved ones and the strangers you will never meet – is under attack. That’s why Paul did not ask the church at Thessalonica to pray for him – he commanded the church to pray for him. In the midst of the battle, Paul said, “Cover me.” The church had a choice. They could lay down covering fire in the form of their prayers or they could let him go it alone.

Today Christians around the world are yelling, “Cover Me!’ Family members, friends, neighbors, missionaries, pastors, and hurting souls everywhere are yelling, “Cover Me!” We are faced with the same choice. Are we going to lay down the covering fire of prayer or do these people have to go it alone? The war is on and when someone yells, “Cover Me” I pray that we will respond with a loud and solid “I got your back.”

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, September 15, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Prayer the Moves Heaven: Power with Purpose. You can find print and digital versions of this series online at https://gc2press.org/prayer-that-moves-heaven-study-guide/ .Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .


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Class Notes – 09.15.2024 – I Got Your Back – 2 Thessalonians 3.1-5Download

Fit for Life: Spiritual Disciplines for Committed Christians – Prayer and Personal Worship

/ Bob

We love to talk about the power of prayer and yet we fail consistently to tap into the power of prayer. The power of prayer IS the power of the Almighty Creator of the Universe, but we choose to use that power, which is readily available to us, on a limited, need-based, self-serving, wishy-washy basis as if it is a last ditch effort to bring about a result we desire – a situational “Hail Mary” if you will – as we play the game of life. The announcer of the football game says that all the quarterback can do is throw a 50 yard pass in the last seconds of a game – a “Hail Mary” – knowing that it probably won’t accomplish anything. That same announcer could be giving the play by play call of our personal lives and see our prayers as just as ineffectual as the “Hail Mary Pass.”

We must be disciplined in our prayer life. We must be consistent and we must establish the pattern of being constant in prayer. In this lesson we likened a Quiet Time to a military Mission Briefing. Our Supreme Commander, God, wants to meet with us in a Mission Briefing before we go out into the world to deal with the spiritual warfare that we will face. We CANNOT seriously think about going out on our daily mission without hearing from our Commanding Officer, and yet we do it on a daily basis. And at the end of the day we wonder what went wrong.

Spending time with God in the morning before you begin your day is not an option. True, consistent prayer doesn’t happen accidentally – it requires discipline and that discipline begins first thing in the morning.

Just do it!

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, June 18, 2023. It is part of a series of Bible study sessions entitled Living the Agape Life – a Bible study curriculum developed by Bob Young with input from the members of the Agape Life Class. Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com .

Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .

Website – FromTheBackPorch.org

Twitter – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast

Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas

Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com

class-notes-06.18.2023-spiritual-disciplines-prayer-and-personal-worshipDownload

The Cost of Following Jesus

/ Bob

Jesus never said that life as a Christian would be easy. Those who say such things obviously don’t remember the words of our Lord when he said, “In this world you’ll have trouble, but be courageous—I’ve overcome the world!” (John 6:33b) In the 9th and 14th Chapters of Luke Jesus lays out the cost of being His disciple. If we choose to follow Christ completely, our lives will change dramatically and perhaps even be turned upside down. The only wise choice is to follow Jesus, but he still calls on us to count the cost – because the cost is high. This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, August 29, 2021. Handouts with slide content can be requested at fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com .