The legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant is given most of the credit for this statement:  “Offense wins games, Defense wins championships.”  He actually did say that, but the credit can also go to a high school basketball coach named Dave Thorson, who wrote in a coaching manual, “Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships.”

So with all due respect to Coach Bryant and Coach Thorson, today we’re leaning on games and tickets. On Offense.

Because today we want to encourage you to pull out the most important tool in your tool belt, or weapon in your arsenal – PRAYER.

And encourage you to go on the OFFensive with your prayer.  Now, just like I would remind my students, let’s not get this confused.  I mean OFF-ensive, not uh-FEN-sive!  Going on the OFFensive.

The Battle Plan for Prayer by Stephen and Alex Kendrick is a journey of learning how to pray more biblically and strategically.  We’ve been sharing these strategies for the last few months.  We’re reminded to fight the battles of our life with prayer first.

So…OFFensive prayer.  Back to that. Sometimes we need to play defense.  But not all the time.   Sometimes we get caught too much in praying against.  Alex and Stephen remind us that there are things we need to pray FOR, not just AGAINST.  Look at the Lord’s Prayer – our model from Jesus Himself.

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.”

So what’s the OFFensive part?  “Thy Kingdom Come.  Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.”  Those are all things we’re asking FOR, not just things to pray against.

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Our prayers are not just about standing our ground against the enemy but taking new ground FOR the Kingdom.  We can pray for open doors for the gospel; for the outpouring of humble and repentant hearts, for the Holy Spirit to fill us with wisdom, discernment and knowledge of his will and to help us raise up a generation that will honor His name.

The book encourages us to think about these questions:

• What is the most loving thing I can ask for right now?
• What could I pray for that would be overwhelmingly good?
• What could greatly advance God’s kingdom in my situation?
• What could I pray for that would really glorify God?

Scripture is rich with OFFensive prayer.  Jesus encouraged this in Matthew 7:11, “if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give what is good to those who ask Him?

When we love someone, we say we want nothing but the best for them.  3^rd John says, “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.”

We know God is good.  We know He is preparing good things for us.  So we should be active in seeking and asking for those things.  Praying that he will do more than we can ask or imagine – because His glory is the ultimate goal of all praying.

So maybe instead of praying, “Lord, please help my church members not to fight in this next board meeting,” pray “Lord, bring loving unity and humility to our gathering, providing for greater ministry opportunities.”

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Think about ways to OFFensively pray out of the Bible.  Colossians 1: 9-12 says, “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,^[a] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^[b] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”

Wouldn’t you want something prayed over you like that?  That’s incredible!  This is how we use the word of God, the model we’ve been given, to drive an OFFensive prayer.

Paul does this again in Philippians 1: 9-11. “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

So…one thought is to consider OFFensive prayer as a way to encourage your pastor, since it is Clergy Appreciation Month. Every pastor needs encouragement in his or her life and ministry.

If you are a lay-leader in your church, take the lead on these types of OFFensive prayers for your pastor.  Treat them like a friend or family member, because he or she is both. Provide a listening ear and safe place for your pastor to share.

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Bob Briner, a former tennis pro, sports agent, college athletic administrator, and author of a great book, Roaring Lambs, wrote this before his death in 1999:

Our freedom is not so much under fire as it is under-used. We have so much more freedom than we actually use. We are free to become people of prayer. We are free to delve deeply into God’s Word. We are free to visit the sick, comfort the hurting and provide for the poor. We are free to become active and productive in our churches. Most of all, we are free to live holy lives of obedience. Our concern should not be so much about freedom, but about responsibility to the debt of love we owe to the Lord Jesus.

Bob’s talking about an OFFensive strategy.  So remember that while defensive prayer is important, offensive prayer can have an important place in our lives. let’s ask God to do something really, really good for HIS glory.

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CLOSING PRAYER

Lord, thank you for giving me prayer to help push back against the darkness.  But thank you, too, for enabling me to use prayer as a way of inviting your blessing, enjoying your presence, and actively investing, lovingly, into other’s lives. For while your strength and power amazes me, Lord, your love amazes me even more…because I know what I’m like; I know what I deserve. Yet, you still take care of me and transform me.  You keep turning my negatives into positives.  You keep giving me opportunities to win, advance and conquer.  And for this, I praise your name!

Thanks for listening!
– Joe