February 27 2025

Thursday February 27

Prayer is Choosing Sides

Luke 11:23-28

23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. 24 "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' 25 And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first." 27 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" 28 But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"

So far in Luke 11, Jesus has given us the pattern of prayer (vv. 1-4). He tells a story and emphasizes the persistence of prayer (vv. 5-8). He has encouraged us with a great promise of prayer. Our heavenly Father will give us the good gifts of the Holy Spirit when we ask in prayer (vv. 9-13). And Jesus illustrated the power of prayer as He cast a demon out of a mute man (vv. 14-22).  

Now in Luke 11:23-28, Jesus is going to give us a lesson on the position of prayer. In this passage Jesus is teaching us that we must choose whose side we are on. I believe that from these verses that we learn that prayer is a part of choosing sides and putting us in the position of being on the Lord’s side!

In verses 15-22, Jesus was accused by the hypocritical religious leaders of casting out demons by the power of Satan. Jesus responded by reminding them that a kingdom or a house that is divided against itself will be destroyed and cannot stand. He also likened Satan to a strong man who is guarding the “spoils” in his house but that he can be stripped of his defense, “his armor”, by a Stronger Man. And then his spoils can be taken from him.

When we pray, we are engaging in “spiritual warfare”. Our prayers can bind Satan and strip him of his defense and his power and then we can release those who have been captured by him. 2 Timothy 2:26 speaks of these precious souls being delivered from the devil by our Godly living and our prayers with these words: “And that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

It is impossible to be neutral in this spiritual war. Jesus makes it clear in verse 23 that we are either for Him or we are against Him. (Also see Luke 9:50). Neutrality means standing against Him. There are two spiritual forces at work in the world, and we must choose between them. Satan is scattering and destroying, but Jesus Christ is gathering and building. We must make a choice, and if we choose to make no choice, we are really choosing against Him.

Jesus illustrated the danger of neutrality by telling the story of the man and the demon. The man's body was the demon's "house" (Luke 11:24, and note vv. 17 and 21). For some unknown reason, the demonic tenant decided to leave his "house" and go elsewhere. The man's condition improved immediately, but the man did not invite God to come and dwell within. In other words, the man remained neutral. What happened? The demon returned with seven other demons worse than himself, and the man's condition was abominable.

We are either going up or we are going down. When I was getting my pilot’s license, I learned very quickly that you can’t park a plane in the air. The moment you stop, you are going down! Any dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream. We are either getting closer to the Lord every day or we are drifting further away from Him. I’ve always pictured the “narrow way that leads to life” right in the middle of the “broad path that leads to destruction”, except it is going in the opposite direction. That is why is so difficult to live the Christian life in this old world we are in.

In verses 27-28, we learn that taking sides with Jesus means much more than saying the right things, like the woman who cried, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" She was certainly sincere, but that was not enough. We take sides with Jesus Christ when we hear His Word and obey it (see Luke 6:46-49; 8:19-21). Praying Biblical prayers is applying God’s Word to our attitudes and actions and give us the power to do God’s will! Praying puts us in the position of being on the Lord’s side!

Today, whose side are you on? Are you praying?

God bless!