Fresh Bread
      # 26

PRAYER OF A FRIEND

 

 FOR
RESCUE FROM ENEMIES
(Psalms 35)

                Have you ever sat talking with a Christian friend still trying to understand the ways of God?  Honestly now, did you ever say to them things that you would not say to God?
                Don’t feel bad if you did.  It’s all a part of our normal process of growth.  God heard you anyway and He really wasn’t offended…but you felt like you were saying things that weren’t in line with His Word.
                Your words usually sound something like this:  “I just have to be truthful with you my friend.  I’ve prayed so long for my enemies, those who hurt me without a cause, and I don’t see any change.  They are still doing the same things and I am still hurting.  Where is God in this?  Doesn’t He hear my prayers?” 

PSALMS 35
PRAYER FOR A FRIEND 

                Now, let’s move on to Psalms 35.  Considering that God called David His friend, David is saying things to God honestly and not afraid of repercussions from what he is praying.  He is honestly expressing what he needs.
                This chapter always bothered me as I read it.  I had a great fear of praying anything that seemed contradictory to love and forgiveness toward those who misunderstood me or were unkind to me. 
                Truth is, I didn’t really know who my enemies were.  If, after many years of prayer, it’s time for us to wake up and pray David’s prayer…if, you are the SEED of David, Abraham, and especially God…you are also the friend of God.  Do you not, then, have the right to expect your Greatest Friend to stand up for you?  You would expect a lesser, earthly friend to do this, then why not God?
                Because of my mercy heart, each time I read this chapter, I would disagree with David, wondering how he had the audacity to ask God to torment and destroy his enemies.
                I still know that we are not warring against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  (Ephesians 6:12).  However, there are actually people who have made the choice to let Satan use them against us.  This does not make God happy.  We  are His SEED.  And the seed of Satan wars against the SEED of God (us). 
                David knew whose SEED he was and he knew God did not want him mistreated.  He also knew that God said:  “Vengeance is Mine:  I will repay, saith the Lord.”  (Romans 12:19b).
                The Lord shows us how we are to treat our enemies, which is certainly not the way they have treated us, but we must LET God use His vengeance as He sees best.  We must stop trying to protect our enemies.
                We must ask the Holy Spirit to show us who our enemies are in the natural.  David had enemies in the natural; politically and physically who chose to destroy him and God’s message in Him.  This was physical attacks that tormented his soul (personality) – position (king) – damaged his authority and impeded his progress to do what was right in God’s kingdom.
                David knew his enemies:  do we?  James 4:4 points out who our enemies are and how we know if we are a friend of God. 

                “Ye adulterers and adulteresses (unfaithful), know ye not that
                   the friendship of the world is enmity (cross-wise, against,
                   separates) with God?  whosoever therefore will be a friend of the                            world (and the world’s system) is the enemy of God.”

                Those people in your life who are not friends of God, but friends of the world, are enemies of God.  Therefore, do not call them friends, but call them enemies.  If they are God’s enemies, they are also yours if you are His friend.
                We need God to deliver us from them as David said in verse 10.  “… who is like unto Thee, which delivereth the poor from him that is too strong for him; yes the poor and needy from him that spoileth him?”
                Because David is in covenant with God, he can count on God to deliver him from his enemies.  But David knew who his soulish enemies were and he was not afraid to admit them to the Lord.  God knew anyway.  David was convinced that God was for him and not for his enemies.
                David was not ashamed to tell God how he had prayed and done good for his enemies and yet they continued to abuse him.  He must have felt that these constant attacks were close to destroying his soul, so he cried out to God to put a stop to what his enemies were doing to his life.
                God heard his prayers and honored his honesty.  I believe God will do the same for us as He gives us daily revelation, even in how to pray.
                I’m certainly not saying this is the only way to pray, but when you desperately need to be rescued from your enemies, I trust that ‘friend of God’, David, that he knew how to pray.
                Yes, we still desire that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of God and His Love, but we must not forget whose SEED we are, and that God jealously watches over His SEED to protect and see it grow.
                Just as God separates the sheep from the goats, perhaps it’s time for us to take an inventory of who are our friends and who are our enemies.
                There’s no place in God’s Word for us to hate our enemies…but there is a place to Put A Stop to their attacks on our soul.  The Lord says He restores our soul (self) for His name’s sake, so we are not being selfish in this issue.  He wants to see our souls restored and healthy.  If our souls aren’t restored (usually through wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and revelation) our physical bodies will be affected also.  Healthy souls promote healthy bodies.  These are both important to God, our Heavenly Father.
                Remember He loves the whole trinity that is us.  Spirit, Soul, and Body.  It is His desire that all three of these parts walk in health.
                Paul says in Philippians 3:17b-19 to MARK those who are the enemies of the Cross of Christ.  Whose end is destruction,…who mind earthly things.”
                Oh, it hurts our spirit and soul to think of their end being destruction.  We have the love of God in us and cannot help but love them and care what happens to them
                But God’s Word says to “mark those who are enemies of the Cross.”  Do not call them your friends unless you know they are definitely friends of God.  His friends are your friends.  His enemies are your enemies.
                Oh, I pray that you do not have many enemies.  As we pray David’s prayer I think we are praying against some enemies that we are not even aware of; people who mean us harm by their words or actions.  And some hurt us the same way just because they have never considered us a friend.  We’re praying that God PUT A STOP to this. 
                There may be just a few people in your life that you have wanted to be your friend, but you have been deceived …because they are actually your enemy.  These are the few that you are praying for revelation from the Holy Spirit to reveal His Truth to you.  When He does, I pray that you will stop calling them your friend…until they truly become one with the Lord.
                Now, read Psalms 35 with this understanding or the special revelation God gives you, even if it is different from mine this morning.  I read it a different way for years, considering only the devil as my enemy…which is true…but men can also be our enemies.  They can be enemies of our soul and body, which God dearly loves because we are His friends and:

We Are His SEED.