And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Matthew 28 (Schlachter 2000)
Jesus’ original Great Commission is not about winning individual people as disciples and followers of Jesus. Rather, it is about making entire nations into disciples. This is a colossal task that we humans could never accomplish on our own. Nor was it ever intended that way.
To this day, the fruits of the fleshly evangelistic efforts of Christian churches and congregations have merely resulted in congregations and churches poaching each other’s sheep. Genuine new conversions were scarcely to be found.
Paul already pointed out the causes in his letter to the Ephesians 6:12:
… for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual [powers] of wickedness in the heavenly [realms].
We ourselves would accomplish hardly anything here. On the other hand, the hosts of heaven are waiting for our prayer to accomplish this work.
We can see what God can accomplish here with His legions from church history, as evidenced by numerous great revivals. Our primary task is prayer.
Time and again, prayer—and with it, the revivals—came to a standstill when the dark powers succeeded in stirring up pride in the Christians and tempting them to trust in their own strength. As a result, the church repeatedly lost itself in human busyness. Consequently, it increasingly fell into walking in the flesh, which left it powerless. As soon as people begin to walk in the flesh, they completely lose sight of a crucial fact: The devil and his forces are masters of deception.
Thus, every past revival could only begin when individuals gathered in groups and devoted themselves to the Lord in prayer. When they then stepped into the breach and repented on behalf of their local church. When churches subsequently confessed their sins, repented, and gathered again in prayer, the Spirit of God could work once more. The repentance of individual churches then always had an effect on neighboring churches throughout an entire region.
Our weapon is prayer!
Pray without ceasing, says God in His Word through Paul. Through our prayer, we Christians direct the heavenly legions through all strata of society in the nations. To this end, the victory over darkness has already been won by Jesus Christ.
Now, at the end of the age, our prayer spurs the Lord’s legions on to drive back the powers of darkness. Accordingly, as sons and daughters of God, our primary role in these battles is that of cheerleaders for the heavenly warriors.
