Wisdom from John Bunyan

"What a fool," quoth he, "am I, thus to lie in a stinking dungeon, when I may as well walk at liberty! I have a key in my bosom called Promise; that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle." -Christian, Pilgrim's Progress

weapons for warfare: FREE

Luke 11:5-13

"And He [Jesus]said to them, suppose one of you shall have a friend and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to set before him.” And from inside he shall answer and say, “Do not bother me. The door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and get you anything, or give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. And I say to you, ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish, he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he has asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

The Christian life is a war. Our heavenly Father is ready to give us what he has already promised us. He has a whole warehouse of promises in scripture that we need to grab a hold of. The artillary is available.

Look at what Martyn Lloyd Jones says of prayer:

"This holy boldness, this argumentation, this reasoning, this putting the case before God, this pleading His own promises, this is the whole secret of prayer."
"Quote the scripture to Him."

Thomas Goodwin (puritan hero) says:

"When you pray, you literally can go to God and say what’s on your heart and claim His promise. In fact, you can demand that He be faithful to His promise. Sue Him for it!."

God will always be there...

2 Timothy 4:16-18

16At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. 17But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth. 18The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

After Paul was deserted and abandoned by his close friends and people he ministered with, he was not bitter or resentful. Instead he was forgiving, asking that it may not be counted against them. He is able to assure Timothy that even though his mentor might be in prison and close to death, even though the church was in turmoil and combating false teachers, even though Timothy would face persecution and false teachers like Paul did, God would give him the strength, courage, and fulfill his promise of never leaving or forsaking him so that he may be able to honor and glorify his name through serving and sacrificing for Him. The Lord will protect and deliver us from every wrong, evil deed, and persecution any man could throw at us. Paul knew he was nearing the end of his life and his long and fruitful ministry serving God, and with that, he also knew that he was closer than ever to the prize that he had faithfully sacrificed and fought for his whole entire ministry.