Prayer - a Powerful Weapon

2nd Corinthians 10 can help shape our attitude toward the spiritual resources that God has given us in order to walk in victory in Christ:
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Like it or not, we are called into the practice of spiritual warfare.  There is no exemption for the believer in Christ, and to try to withdraw or sit on the sideline results in defeat.  So, we cannot be passive, but we are called to recognize we have an enemy, he is engaging us, and we have powerful resources through which we can respond to him and resist him - our weapons are mightier, in Christ, and our power is superior, through the Holy Spirit.

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In Ephesians 6, we can read this exhortation:
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Kenneth Bae is a missionary who was born in South Korea, but had located in Washington.  He had run a tourist company taking trips to North Korea - many of which were Christian-based, according to a piece on the ChristianNews.net website.  Until November 2012, over a dozen of those trips had been made without an issue.  But, at that time during a tour, Bae was taken into custody and was accused of attempting to overthrow the government.  He was arrested not far from the city of Yanji, where some Christian groups provide aid to North Korean refugees.

The story relates that Bae was sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor in North Korea, and served in a labor camp for two years before ultimately being freed.  He is now speaking out about his experience and how his missionary work was deemed a “threat” to the atheist government.

The story says that recently he told CBS News, "They (the prosecutors) said, ‘You attempted to overthrow the government through prayer and worship’ and they really took prayer as a weapon against them."

Bae said that what had caused him to get in trouble was a computer hard drive in his possession that contained prayers to God, as well as photographs of impoverished North Korean children.  He was accused by officials of being a spy and he was placed on trial.

The missionary is quoted as saying, "One of the prosecutors told me that I was the worst, most dangerous American criminal they had ever apprehended since the Korean War,." He continued, “I said, ‘Why?’ and they said, ‘Because not only [did you come] to do mission work on your own, you asked others to join.’”

Bae spent 735 days in prison before being pardoned by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.  The ChristianNews.net story states:

But Bae took his difficulties in stride and told CNN on Monday that he spent his days “depending on God and pretty much living day to day—just one day at a time.” He trusted that God would be his rescuer, and held onto the promises of Scripture.

“I [would look] in the mirror in the bathroom every day, and say, ‘Remember, you are a missionary. This is what you are here for,'” Bae also told CBS, referring to his mission to share Christ with the lost. “I took it more as a blessing, rather than a curse or suffering.”

What an amazing story, and a testimony to the perseverance of this one man, who did not become discouraged during captivity, but saw his time in prison as an opportunity for God to use him to share Christ.  One takeaway of this story deals with that attitude that Bae displayed, as he looked in the mirror and saw his mission.  Each day, we can consider that God has a purpose for us that day, to use us for His glory.

We recognize that God has given us tools to fulfill His will - He has given us the Holy Spirit to give us power and direction.  He has also given us prayer.  Remember what Kenneth Bae said - the North Korea government regarded prayer as a weapon; they accused Bae of using prayer and worship to overthrow their government.  Think about that for a moment.  These officials were threatened by Kenneth's faith and they possessed an attitude about prayer that might even be helpful for us to consider.  They acknowledged the power of prayer and worship.  They saw prayer as a weapon. Remember that Scripture says that our weapons are not carnal, or of the flesh or human strength, but they are mighty to pull down strongholds.  We have access to the armor of God and the resources of heaven.   We can engage in spiritual warfare through the power of prayer, in the name of Jesus.