Secrets of a Prayer Warrior by Derek Prince

Author:Derek Prince
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Non-Fiction
ISBN: 9781441204158
Publisher: Chosen Books
Published: 2009-05-01T00:00:00+00:00

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SPIRITUAL WEAPONS FOR SPIRITUAL WARFARE

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.

2 Corinthians 12:2

This verse brings us face-to-face with the revelation that there is more than one heaven. Paul says he knew a man—and, incidentally, I never have believed this man was Paul—who had a marvelous experience of being caught up into the third heaven where he “heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Corinthians 12:4).

I believe we can assume that if there is a third heaven, there must be a first and a second heaven. I want to look for a moment at the placement and inhabitants of each of these heavens. This is important if we are going to pray victoriously.

In these verses Paul indicated that the third heaven is the location of Paradise. This is now the place where the departed spirits of the righteous go, but this was not always the case. There was a time when the abode of the righteous dead was down in Sheol, a special compartment of the lower part of the earth. You will remember that under the Old Covenant, Abraham and all the saints went down into a special place that was separated from the spirits of the departed wicked by a great gulf. After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Paradise was translated. From that time on, Paradise has been up in the third heaven in the presence of Almighty God.

The Bible also speaks about something we could call the mid-heaven or second heaven. This word is taken from the book of Revelation. John said, for instance, “I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven” (Revelation 14:6). That is actually one single compound noun that could well be translated “the mid.heaven.h This second heaven is Satan’s headquarters. From that position he and his angels do everything they can to bring destruction on earth and to resist the purposes of God’s grace, blessing and mercy. More on that in a moment.

The first heaven is what we see when we go out at night and look up into the stars—the visible heaven. We might say that it is the roof of man’s dwelling place.

So, we see that: God resides in the third heaven, and man resides near the first heaven. In between the two, in the midheaven, resides a rebellious kingdom of Satan and his fallen angels.

Now what does this have to do with praying prayers that God hears and answers? Quite a bit. It gives us a picture of spiritual conflict—the opposition we face when we pray.

The View of the Heavenlies

To understand spiritual warfare, we need to understand what we are fighting against. Scripture reveals that at the present time Satan’s headquarters are in the heavenlies. Paul gives us a clear picture of this in his letter to

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