Prepared for Battle

saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” –Exodus 17:16

Throughout history, there has always been attack and counterattack between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. When the prophesied exodus from Egypt was nearing its four-hundred-year fulfillment (Gen. 15:13), Pharoah initiated a hell-inspired program to annihilate all Hebrew baby boys. This demonic plan was crushed by God as the Hebrews took much of Egypt’s wealth with them, and the Pharoah reaped what he sowed by witnessing the death of his own son.

Satan tried to do the same thing when Christ was born. This time his instrument of death was a man named Herod who, similar to Pharoah, had all the male children under two years of age murdered. God, through a dream, instructed Joseph to take his wife and Son to Egypt until the river of blood stopped with Herod’s unexpected death. As Christ began His public ministry and His prophesied journey towards the cross, demonic activity soared, The kingdom of darkness celebrated the Savior’s death only to realize three days later they were mere pawns, Divinely used to fulfill numerous Old Testament scriptures of the promised Messiah.

When the Pilgrims came to the shores of America with the aim of establishing religious freedom and evangelizing the natives, they lost almost half of their population to sickness and disease that first year. A few years later the Indian chief know as King Phillip (the First Indian War) killed around 2,500 settlers killed, around one-third of the population in New England. Nevertheless, the city set upon the hill was continuing to shine brighter and brighter.

Kingdoms clashed again when America was founded in liberty and upon a biblical foundation. The Great Experiment, while by no means being perfect, grew in strength and respect. Slavery was a blight upon the American character and God purged that sin though the Civil War. Surely, Satan was in absolute glee as tens of thousands of souls fell into eternity. Nevertheless, God has sent the Second Great Awakening a few decades earlier that caused the Grim Reaper’s tally to be much lower than it would have otherwise.

While not as earth-shaking as these events, the resurgence of homeschooling back in the seventies and eighties sparked a type of familial reformation that continues to this very moment. Fathers and mothers started taking more responsibility for the discipleship of their children. Some parents were jailed, and numerous court battles ensued. It seemed that the enemy did not want to give up his stronghold of indoctrination called public schools. By the grace of God, not only have we maintained those freedoms, but we have also actually built upon them. Still, we cannot be so naïve and ignorant of redemptive history to rest upon past laurels and think there will be no more future attacks.

We must realize that the battle between these two forces will continue until God closes out human history. While teaching our children at home is the biblical normative of six thousand years of world history—apart from the last hundred and fifty years—homeschooling in and of itself is not enough to prepare our children for the spiritual war they will experience in this culture. God must pour out His transforming grace on all of us, and that is what we want to pray for this month in ICHE’s time of prayer and fasting. We want our children and unseen generations to stand tall in this ongoing cosmic war.

Almost everyone recognizes our nation is in a perilous situation, though, as stated above, it is not the first time. Thirty years ago, many saw homeschooling as a possible avenue God would use to affect great change in our culture. It hasn’t happened. Every sin that is in the world is in the homeschool movement, but we trust it is far less per capita. Sadder yet, leading voices in our movement were found to be in secret sin, hurting many who were following their example.

The hope of winning this leg of the kingdom race is not in homeschooling but in praying that God would visit His people with a genuine spirit of revival and reformation. Just as in the past when our enemy seemed to be crushing God’s people, He will raise up a standard in order to continue to see His kingdom come and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. May homeschoolers be mighty warriors in that war.

Consider joining us on October 8^th and throughout the month.

1. Pray that a deep, genuine spirit of prayer would envelop the homeschool community, especially here in Illinois.
   1. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. -1 Samuel 12:23
   2. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. –James 5:16
2. Pray that homeschoolers would seek their role in the local church and that these churches would preach the whole counsel of God so that revival might be experienced.
   1. Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? –Psalms 85:6
   2. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. –Acts 9:31
3. Pray that parents would have an increasing sense of the battle their children are facing in the present culture and be moved to deep prayer and a deeper commitment to teach a biblical worldview.
   1. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. –Psalms 27:3
   2. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war! –Psalms 120:7
4. Pray that God would grace our children with soft hearts toward Him but a hard head against the world.
   1. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. –Psalms 37:4 (delight means to be moldable, pliable)
   2. Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”–Ezekiel 3:9
5. Pray that God would give parents a humble yet strong confidence in discipling their children at home.
   1. In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge. –Proverbs 14:26
   2. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. –2 Chron. 32:8
6. Pray that our families would increase in discernment, not just between good and evil, but between good and almost good.
   1. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, –Phil 1:9
   2. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. –Hebrews 5:14
7. Pray that we would become increasingly offensively minded and not always on the defense. Pray that we would not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
   1. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. –1 John 4:4
   2. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, –1 Samuel 17:46
   3. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. –Romans 1:16
8. Pray that God would give supernatural insight to see what the culture’s root issues are, so we will not waste time on secondary diversions.
   1. yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,⁴ if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. –Proverbs 2:3-5
   2. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. –Proverbs 9:10
9. Pray that God would put His thoughts in our children’s hearts and His words on their lips.
   1. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. –Matt. 10:19 (KJV)
   2. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. –Is. 55:9 (KJV)
10. Pray that our children would find contentment and joy in God’s ways and embrace those tenets whole heartedly.
    1. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. –Proverbs 3:6
    2. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. –Psalms 16:11
11. Pray that parents and/or children would not grow weary in the fight between good and evil.
    1. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.–Gal. 6:9
    2. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. –Hebrews 12:3
    3. from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, –Psalms 61:2
12. Pray that the older we and our children grow, the more convinced we would be about our faith.
    1. Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. –Psalms 143:8
    2. For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.–Psalms 135:5
13. Pray that God would bring deep convictions on fathers and mothers concerning what type of inputs (movies, shows, music, books, etc.) they would allow into their homes. Pray that we would hate worldly temptations.
    1. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. –Romans 8:13
    2. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.–Col. 3:5