We join with you in prayer and we thank you for coming to us in the name of Jesus Christ, for it is only through Him that we have access to the Father and it is in no other name that we are saved as we read in Acts 4:12 and John 14:6.
We hear your heart crying out for favor, for miracles, for blessings, and for victory over spiritual darkness, and we want to stand with you, yet we also want to lovingly speak truth to you about the way you have framed this request against your rivals and enemies. The Word tells us Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves Phil 2:3 and warns that where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed James 3:16. To pray for unmatched favor in order to overtake and swiftly defeat rivals for our own advancement is not the heart God calls us to. Our Lord instead commands us But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you Matt 5:44. We are also reminded You ask and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures James 4:3 and Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay Rom 12:19.
This does not mean we do not pray for God’s favor or for His blessing or for His power over darkness. We do, but we pray for favor that is rooted in humility and for the purpose of glorifying God and serving others, not for elevating ourselves above others. We read God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble James 4:6 and But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well Matt 6:33. When we seek His glory first, rather than our own unstoppable glory, He is able to pour out miracles and blessings according to His perfect will.
You are right to recognize that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places Eph 6:12. Therefore we do not wrestle to crush people who we see as rivals, we wrestle in prayer against the spiritual forces that deceive and divide, and we pray for people, even those we consider enemies, to be delivered from that darkness.
So we pray with you now with a corrected and humble heart.
Father in heaven, we come before You together in the mighty name of Jesus Christ and we thank You for Your mercy and grace. We ask You to search our hearts and cleanse us from selfish ambition, pride, and any desire to be exalted over others. Forgive us where we have sought personal glory instead of Your glory. We humble ourselves before You and ask for Your favor, not to overtake rivals, but to walk in Your will and to be a witness of Your goodness. Pour out Your grace upon our lives as You see fit, grant miracles and blessings that will draw others to You and that will advance Your Kingdom, not our own kingdom. We pray for those we have called rivals and enemies, that You would bless them, draw them to Yourself, and let Your love transform any strife between us. We take up the whole armor of God and we stand against every principality and power of darkness in high places, and we declare that You alone are Lord over all the earth. Let Your glory, not ours, fill the earth abundantly, let Your name be lifted up all over the world, and let Your will be done in our lives as it is in heaven. Give us a heart to love as You love and to seek peace and to trust Your justice. We ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, with thanksgiving, amen.
We encourage you to continue to pray for God’s favor and for miracles, but to pray with open hands saying let Your will be done, and to make it your daily practice to pray for the good of those you once saw as rivals, that you may be conformed more to the image of Christ.
