#23 The Daily Affirmation Prayer

by Dr. Stephen R. Phinney

We are near the end of the series - Faithful Father: Restoring Hearts of Children to the Father. I strongly encourage you to proclaim The Daily Affirmation Prayer aloud for the next 10 days and return to this prayer as often as needed. It will build a spiritual foundation in your soul; help you maintain the ground you have taken back from the enemy; and remind you of the victory you have in Christ Jesus.  

THE DAILY AFFIRMATION PRAYER  

Today, I deliberately choose to submit myself fully to God as He has made Himself known to me through the Holy Scripture. I honestly accept it as the only inspired, infallible, authoritative standard for all life and practice. In this day, I will not judge God, His work, others, or myself.  

By faith, I recognize that the true God is worthy of all honor, praise, and worship as the Creator, Sustainer, and End of all things. He is the Alpha and the Omega. I confess that God, as my Creator, made me for Himself. Therefore, in this day, I choose to live for Him. 

By faith, I recognize that God loves me and chose me in Jesus Christ before time began. By faith, I recognize that God has proven His love to me in sending His Son to die in my place, in Whom every provision has already been made for my past, present, and future needs through His representative work. Also, I recognize I have been quickened, raised, seated with Jesus in the heavenly places, and anointed with the Holy Spirit. 

By faith, I recognize that God has accepted me since I have received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior; He has forgiven me; He has adopted me into His family, assuming every responsibility for me; He has given me eternal life; He has applied the perfect righteousness of Christ to me so that I am now justified; He has made me complete in Christ; and He offers Himself to me as my daily sufficiency through prayer and the decisions of faith.  

By faith, I recognize that the Holy Spirit has baptized me into the Body of Christ; sealed me; anointed me for life and service; seeks to lead me into a deeper walk with Jesus; and fills my life with Him.  

By faith, I recognize that only God can deal with sin and only God can produce holiness of life. I confess that in my Salvation, my part was only to receive Him. He dealt with my sin and saved me. Now I confess that in order to live a holy life, I can only surrender to His will and receive Him as my sanctification; trusting Him to do whatever may be necessary in my life (without and within), so I may be enabled to live today in purity, freedom, rest, and power for His glory.  

For this day, I make the decision of faith to surrender wholly to the authority of God as He has revealed Himself in the Scripture--to obey Him. I confess my sin, face the sinful reality of my old nature that is dead, and deliberately choose to walk in the light--in step with Christ--throughout the hours of this day.  

For this day, I make the decision of faith to surrender wholly to the authority of God as revealed in the Scripture--to believe Him. I accept only His Word as final authority. I now believe that since I have confessed my sin, He has already forgiven and cleansed me. I accept at full value His Word of promise to be my sufficiency and rest and I will conduct myself accordingly.  

For this day, I make the decision of faith to recognize that God has made every provision, so that I may fulfill His will and calling in my life. Therefore, I will not make any excuse for my sin and failure.  

For this day, I make the decision of faith to deliberately receive from God the provision that He has made for me. I renounce all self-effort to live the Christian life and to perform God’s service; I renounce all sinful praying which asks God to change circumstances and people so that I may be more spiritual; I renounce all drawing back from the work of the Holy Spirit within and the call of God without; and I renounce all non-biblical motives, goals, and activities which serve my sinful pride. I receive Jesus as my sanctification, my deliverance, my anointing, and my promise for daily living.  

In Jesus’ name I pray – Amen!


Daily Affirmation Prayer Copyright © 2013 IOM America. Permission to reproduce for educational purposes. Please keep author’s name intact.

All Scriptures, unless otherwise stated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

#22 Heart of a Warrior

By Dr. Stephen R. Phinney

"But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron” (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

"He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse" (Malachi 4:6).

Covenant Prayer of Armor *  

Dear Abba Father, Heavenly Father, I desire to be obedient by being strong in the Lord and the power of Your might. I see that this is Your will and purpose for me. I recognize it is essential to put on the armor that You have provided, and I do so now with gratitude and praise. You have provided all I need to stand in victory against Satan and his kingdom. Grant me wisdom to discern the tactics and sneakiness of Satan’s strategy against me. Enable me to wrestle in victory against the princes, powers, rulers, and wicked spirits who carry the battle of darkness against me. I delight to take the armor You have provided and by faith, put it on as effective spiritual protection against the forces of darkness. 

I confidently take the Loin Girdle of Truth You offer me. I take Him who is the Truth as my strength and protection. I reject Satan’s lies and deceiving ways to gain advantage against me. Grant me discernment and wisdom to recognize the subtle deceiving ways in which Satan seeks to cause me to accept his lies as truth. I desire to believe only in the Truth, to live the Truth, to speak the Truth, and to know the Truth. I worship and praise You for leading me only in the ways of Truth. Thank You that Satan cannot stand against the bold use of the Truth. 

I hold close the Breastplate of Righteousness You offer me. I eagerly accept it and put it on as my protection. I ask You to cleanse me of all the times I have counted my own goodness as being acceptable before You. I bring the Righteousness of my Lord directly against all of Satan’s working against me.  

I embrace the Sandals of Peace You have provided. I desire that my feet should stand on the solid rock of peace. I claim the Peace of God, which is mine through justification. Thank You for not giving me a spirit of fear--but of love, power, and a sound mind. Thank You that Satan cannot stand against Your Peace.  

I lift up my Shield of Faith against all the blazing missiles Satan and his hosts fire at me. I recognize You are my Shield and that in Your incarnation and crucifixion, You took the arrows of the enemy for me. By faith, I count on You to shield me from above and beneath; on my right and my left; in front of me and behind me--that I might be protected, walled in, and encapsulated by You, so that Satan may not be able to hurt or destroy me from fulfilling Your will today. Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You are a complete and perfect Shield and that Satan cannot touch me apart from Your sovereign purpose. 

I take my Helmet of Salvation and choose to put it on. I cover my mind and my thoughts with Your Salvation. I recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ is my Salvation. I invite Your mind to be in me. Let me think Your thoughts, feel Your love and compassion, and discern Your will and leading in all things. May the Salvation of my Lord Jesus meet and defeat all satanic thoughts that come into my mind. 

With joy, I take and embrace the Sword of the Spirit, which is the trustworthy and infallible Word of God. I choose to believe it and to live in its Truth and power. I accept Your cleansing from the sin of neglecting Your Word. Empower me to have proficient recall and skill in using Your Word against all of Satan’s attacks against me, even as my Lord Jesus used the Word against Satan. I take back any ground the enemy has gained while I was lazy and disobedient in proclaiming Your Word. Thank You that Satan must retreat from Your Word applied against him. 

Thank You, Father, for prayer. Cause me to keep my armor well-oiled with the power of prayer. I desire to pray at all times with depth and intensity as the Holy Spirit leads me. I reject all fleshly praying as sin. I trust the Holy Spirit to enable me, and to intercede for me and through me. All of these petitions, intercessions, and words of praise, I offer up before the True and living God in the name and worthy merit of my Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 

The Bride’s Armor Against Torment  

Satan is consistent in attempting to find chinks in our armor. These are areas of our lives that we do not keep covered-–areas in which we are not effective at being spiritually responsible. If God should remove our protection, Satan would come in like a roaring dragon to devour us. We must thank our God daily for His loving protection, even when we are irresponsible. God allows minimum attacks to “wake us up.” Isaiah 51:9 tells us: “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces, Who pierced the dragon?” These allowances bring us to humility and dependence, not only on God but on each other.  

Today you prayed a covenant prayer of God’s armor, which will equip you in putting on individual pieces of the full armor of God. But now we must explore why the enemy works to torment us in daily living.  

Torment of the Unsaved: The literal translation is “hell.” The English word (from the root meaning “to hide” or “cover”) had the original significance of the world of the dead. The word has come to mean almost exclusively the place of punishment of the lost or unrepentant; the place of torment of the wicked; or to be absent of the Father’s love. 

Christian Torment: The literal translation is “Sheol.” This word occurs in the Old Testament sixty-five (65) times. This word sheol is derived from a root word meaning “to ask,” “demand,” or “always wanting more.” 

Since Satan cannot bring the Father’s people to Sheol (hell) with him, he diligently works to make Christians “always wanting more.” 

When the Father’s children are always in the “wanting,” they cannot enjoy the presence or intimacy of their Father. 

GUILT VS SPIRITUAL WEAPONRY 

A believer who learns to grasp the tremendous power of his spiritual weaponry, through understanding passages like this, will find a new joy in prayer. Learning to pray aggressively will not only change one’s life, but the lives of those for whom God calls you to pray. 

Satan will do almost anything to divert men from warfare prayers. This is when we go toe-to-toe with the enemy. It is critical to be bold and direct in applying the weapons of warfare in our daily living as believers. Aggressive prayer plays a mighty role in the believer’s effectiveness in living the victorious Christian life. It is my prayer that the Lord grants you new insight to its importance and effectiveness in fighting the good fight.  

Key Note: You are a child of the living God, purchased by the blood of Jesus. All of your sins (past, present, and future) were permanently dealt with on the Cross over 2,000 years ago. What God did for you then applies to you this very hour. You have already been delivered from the domain of darkness and placed into the mighty power of God’s Light. You are in Christ Jesus; Satan cannot take you out of His hand. The work of the Cross has cancelled out all of the enemy’s lies, schemes, and wicked plans against you. When you pray, you are appropriating the victory that was given to you on the day of your Salvation. God owns your mind, will, and emotions. Nevertheless, Satan never stops trying to deceive you into thinking that he has the power to own you once more. When you were unsaved, he owned you. Now that you have been reborn, he will never again have ownership of you. Yet, he works moment by moment to deceive you into thinking this is not true. Moreover, he does this through your “feelings.” 

Satan wants you to believe that your “feelings” are what is true about you. The enemy’s system of attack is FEELINGS, FACT, and then, FAITH. If Satan is successful in causing you to follow his system, you will never get to the point of appropriating his FAITH. That is his goal. FAITH never follows lies. FAITH only follows the Truth of the Living God. What God says is FACT and one’s FAITH is needed to activate His Truth. Don’t worry, your feelings will follow in due time.   

Guilty Conscience: 

The enemy’s goal is to have the Father’s children live a life of guilt and shame. There is nothing more torturous to a child than not being able to enjoy sweet fellowship with a father, particularly, the Abba Father. A troubled conscience cannot respect the Father and therefore, cannot experience intimacy with the Father. Until a child has a “clear conscience,” he/she is an object of torture for the enemy to “get back at God.”  

Clearing the Conscience: 

The Word of God teaches us that our Groom (Christ) is our advocate before the Father in order to clear our guilty conscience. For He certainly knows that a mind filled with shame cannot “feel” complete enough to communicate with God the Father. It is a good thing that our Husband paid the price for our guilt. Jesus’ act of “paying the price” was an act of “rewinding” our souls back before the fall, to a spiritual state of being “naked” and not ashamed. 

Five Warning Signs:  

There are five warning signs the Father gives us regarding walking with a clear conscience.  

1. All Bridal Members with a guilty past can still enjoy a clear conscience (a mind redeemed from the consequences of sin).
2. None of our efforts or “works” can clear our conscience. Only our Husband can do this.
3. The Holy Spirit uses the Bride’s conscience to renew their mind. 
4. The Bride’s conscience is an indicator of the level of deception being embraced. 
5. The Bride’s conscience can be seared if unguarded. These are Bridal Members who refuse to break loose from “doctrines of demons.”  

Seven Actions of the Bride:

The Word shows us seven actions the Bride can take to preserve their clear conscience. 

1. Pursue and respond to the Groom as if their life depended on it.
2. Pursue and respond to other Bridal members with peace and harmony. 
3. Embrace what the Father has already done for the Bride.
4. Enter the room of the Holy of Holies regularly in order to keep our conscience clear.
5. Always approach the Father with confidence, repentance, and humility.
6. Be bold in asking the Father to cleanse the Bride’s conscience.
7. Wash the Bride’s mind with the Word before, during, and after each time with the Father. Remember, the Word renews the minds. 

The Action that Seals Our Renewal: 

The process of sealing our “renewal of mind" is that of reconciling and restoring our hearts with others. 

Faithful Father Conclusion and Challenge:

The Father makes it clear that He is the Beginning and the End. If we were able to find all the spoken and inspired words describing God in the Word of God, we still would not come close to describing the Father of heaven. It will take eternity for us to discover all the attributes of God. This is the primary reason we should be so excited about going to the Father and spending eternity with Him.  

A Bridal Member who understands the key elements of finding intimacy is one who is in search of it. The more time we take to get to know a friend, spouse, child, or God, the richer and more intimate the relationship becomes. So much of mankind’s sinful flesh wants everything right now. God is a God of perfect timing; it will be in His timing that we come to know Him completely. We should learn to enjoy each moment of Truth in the moment and portion that it is given to us. For in these moments the FAITHFUL FATHER will reveal Himself in all of His glory. 

* Covenant Prayer of Armor based on Eph. 6:13-18.

Heart of a Warrior. Copyright © 2013 IOM America. Permission to reproduce for educational purposes. Please keep author’s name intact. 

All Scriptures, unless otherwise stated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.