Life is a beautiful gift from God, but because there’s an enemy loose in the world, the potential for it to turn ugly always exists. When this happens and trouble shows up, how we respond to it indicates our spiritual health. Evil can manifest itself in multiple ways. We can either let it intimidate us and shut us down, or face it head on and use prayer as a powerful weapon against it.

Evil is the driving force behind everything that can hurt, kill, or destroy us. It doesn’t just happen randomly—there’s actually someone planning and orchestrating it all. The enemy’s intent is to steal every ounce of joy from our lives. “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Connecting ourselves to God through prayer disables the thief.

When we pray, we have a heart-to-heart conversation with God. A strong prayer life keeps us plugged in to Him, and shields us from the devil’s attacks. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). Satan has operated as a defeated foe since Jesus stripped all his former authority from him; however, he still comes against us. Prayer strengthens us for the battle.

Our prayers should reflect the victory we receive by faith in the finished works of Christ. We don’t have to beg and plead for Him to protect us from evil or deliver us from temptation; that—along with everything else we need to succeed—was done two thousand years ago when He hung on the cross. We simply need to acknowledge what He did, and thank Him for it. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6, NKJV).

New-covenant prayer enables us to talk directly to God and completely unburden ourselves in His presence. It provides us with a way to bypass our limited intellectual understanding, and lets the Holy Spirit intercede on our behalf. Praying in tongues is something religion doesn’t understand, but greatly benefits us. “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26, 27, NKJV).

Praying in the Holy Spirit build us up like a strong tower, and allows us to pray about things we’re not even aware of in our conscious minds. This gives us a tremendous advantage, because the Spirit guides us and keeps us safe from evil. “For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries” (1 Corinthians 14:2). This kind of prayer requires complete trust in Him.

True prayer is a two-way communication between us and God. As believers, our prayers keep us under the protection of our loving heavenly Father. “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Being with Him is the safest, strongest, most victorious place we could ever be.

For more on how to pray effectively according to the new covenant that Jesus established, click on the link below for the small companion book, The Power of Grace-Based Prayers.