Our Sword to Fight the Devil is Prayer — Carla Cristiane Casali Batista, Second Counselor, Fountain of Living Waters Society

There is a war in the world between good and evil, and we are all in it. And our sword in this battle is prayer. Those who pray with the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit feel God’s call to fight evil. We are called by the Lord to pray, but not everyone is listening to His voice. Are you listening? I believe you are, or you wouldn’t be reading these words.

In 1 Corinthians 3:11 it says: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

We know that there is no foundation more solid than that established on the Rock, which is the Lord Jesus and His Word. As it is written in Isaiah 26:4, “Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”

We must be constantly inviting the Spirit to help us in all things. We have free will, but if we seek His constant help in simple conversations, God will help us to always choose the best and the right thing. We can do this through calm and peaceful thoughts such as: “Please Father, show me how to do this!”; “Please God, help me find the best way!”

It does not matter how simple our words are, as long as our desire is true and we always seek God¹. In this way, we will activate powerful forces on the other side of the veil. If we make this constant in our lives, we will learn to hear the impulses and whispers of the Spirit in response to our daily prayers.

In the Sealed Book of Moses 5:35 we find: “For how much a sincere prayer, made with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, is enough to move the hand of Him who commands the whole universe.” This passage means that we are not alone, so our sincere and constant prayers will always be answered. We just need to learn to listen and understand His answers.

We read in 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18, “Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” We must carry with us the spirit of prayer during every task we have to accomplish in life, through simple and daily conversations with the Father. Why? For a simple reason; man depends entirely on God and if we do not forget to pray, He will not forget us. And so, by always being in a spirit of prayer, asking the Lord for help in everything we do, we will be preparing ourselves to be fit and worthy to live in Zion. For we will have our feelings purified and thus we will be placing a stamp of acceptance to be citizens of Zion as it says in the scripture:

This project, coming from God, requires first that the people possess the citizenship of Zion in their hearts, and this will be the means by which the people of God will show themselves apt and worthy to live in Zion, having a broken heart and a contrite spirit before the Lord (Acts of the Three Nephites 7:6).

This is the battle we are fighting between good and evil. Evil is in the world surrounding us and our family. We cannot lower our sword of prayer; we have to constantly sharpen it so that it has power against the enemy that constantly surrounds us with discouragement, lack of hope, doubts, among others.

Remember Solomon’s teachings in Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” We must teach our children to constantly talk to the Lord. He must be our children’s best friend; only then will they have the intimacy to speak and seek advice from Him in all things, and as they grow, this intimacy will also grow until it becomes part of their lives.

When a child bows his head with childlike simplicity and asks, the Lord hears him and responds with a blessing upon his head, because children are innocent and ask with trust and faith. These are simple principles that we must keep in mind. Yes, they are simple, but they are necessary and essential. I raise my prayers for all of you, my brothers and sisters, and for our prophet.

¹ Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith (Chapter 3: True, Faithful, Earnest Prayer, page 21)