“I correct and discipline those whom I love. So be earnest and change your hearts and lives” (Revelation 3:19, CEB).

I often am struck by the message God does not communicate through the Scriptures as much as I am by what God does say. The book of Revelation is actually a letter from God delivered through the pen of John, Jesus’ disciple. The letter was circulated among the seven churches that were in existence during the latter part of the first century.

At that time, the Christian community was under attack by the tyrannical Roman emperor, Domitian. Every person who refused to declare Domitian as their “Lord and God” was vengefully sought out and assaulted. The violence ran rampant throughout the empire.

            The world was in dire need of a righteous change. Yet at no time did God instruct the church to fight back. No command is given to strike out against the perpetrators of evil.

Rather than declaring that the church go out and change the world in which they lived, God instructed His people instead to “be earnest and change [their] hearts and lives.” Though the forces of wickedness were evident all around them, God insisted that all Christians first identify and address the presence of sin within themselves. Mohandas Gandhi once said, “If you want to change the world, start with yourself.”

            Sounds like good advice to me. But I believe that God temporarily held back from discharging His troops into battle against iniquity for an additional reason. The forces of evil required a divine intervention. The church needed a power greater than itself to restore the world to sanity.

            The great reformer, Martin Luther, wrote the following words:

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,

were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing.

You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he;

Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same;

and HE MUST WIN THE BATTLE.

Too often we underestimate the power of evil and overestimate our ability to overcome it. When strike out on our own, we are prone to strike out altogether.

            Now, please don’t hear what I’m not saying. I am not implying that the church sit back and say or do nothing. What I am suggesting is that our first step into the battle must be taken on our knees. Prayer is our greatest weapon against the forces of evil. Moreover, Jesus is the only person equipped to win the battle.

            Prayer should be our opening salvo against injustice, violence, and racism. Prayer is our most formidable weapon against cancer, congestive heart failure, and infectious diseases. Prayer should be our first option in the battle against evil rather than our last resort.

            The reality is that if we in our own mortal strength confide, our striving would be eternally losing.