Spiritual Warfare: The Masculine Biblical Theology of Prayer

The Church is suffering from a lack of male participation, while Islam has an abundance of men within its ranks. Have you ever wondered why that is?

If you ask the average American male to come to Church and join in prayer, he will yawn like a lion and say, “Boring! That’s what my Mom and Grandma do . . .” Arguably, most guys associate prayer with being pusillanimous, meaning “lacking courage or resolution; cowardly; faint-hearted; timid; frightened and fearful.” Unspiritual men might describe men that pray with the “abbreviated form” of pusillanimous.

I understand the power of prayer because I have had giants in the Catholic Faith mentor me. Now it is my goal to bring a whole army of men, who are currently only spectators, into the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. How? By showing them that “praying” is the most masculine thing a man can do. It’s harder than lifting weights, jogging, punching a bag—all that’s easy. Praying requires complete control and discipline of the soul and the body—now that’s difficult.

Catholic men need to be reminded that they are soldiers of Christ and that prayer is their weapon.

In the movie 300, based on the historical battle of Thermopylae, King Xerxes threatens the Spartans by saying that his Persian archers would “blot out the sun” with their arrows as they shot at their enemies. Archers were the most feared component in ancient military warfare because they could kill from a distance; hand-to-hand combat was not necessary for an archer.

Prayer is speaking God’s Word, and it is a deadly weapon against our enemy: demons. If Catholic Christians really understood the full extent of the power that we have available through prayer, we would be speechless. To quote the following spiritual warriors: St. Faustina said, “By prayer, a soul arms itself for all kinds of combat” (Diary, 146). King David wrote, “The Lord thundered from heaven; the most High made his voice resound. He let fly his arrows and scattered them; shot his lightning bolts and dispersed them” (Ps. 18:14-15). What does prayer do? Prayer prepares you for combat. And it disperses evil spirits.

In 2 Corinthians, St. Paul writes, “For though we live in the world, we are not carrying on a worldly war, for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly, but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:4). What are our weapons? Our weapons are faith, prayer, and the sacraments.

In Psalm 64:8, King David reflects, “God shoots an arrow at them; in a moment they are struck down.” See how arrows are referenced in the Word of God? This likens prayer to calling in air strikes against demons. In the Old Testament, the Israelites had archers on top of the high walls surrounding the city. When an enemy approached, the archers would launch volleys of arrows at them. Our concentrated prayer launches such attacks against the forces of evil coming at us.

In fact, in Catholicism, there is such a thing as an “arrow prayer”: it is “a simple, short prayer that brings us right into the presence of God. Very often Arrow Prayers are just a couple of words, a sentence or less. They can be short passages of scripture, a cry for help, or just the name of Jesus” (Catholic Sprouts).

However, the Enemy also uses “arrows” against us. Psalm 64 refers to these demonic attacks using specific language:

O God, hear my anguished voice; from a dreadful foe protect my life. Hide me from the malicious crowd, the mob of evildoers. They sharpen their tongues like swords, bend their bows of poison words. They shoot at the innocent from ambush, they shoot him in a moment and do not fear. (Ps. 64:2-5)

What do the demons use to attack us? Words. “They sharpen their tongues like swords . . .” The book of Jeremiah confirms: “A murderous arrow is their tongue” (Jer. 9:7). What are we to take away from this? Be on our guard. This is not a one-way battle. It’s a full-on war.

However, have hope! Scripture says, “You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day” (Ps. 91:5). God’s Word has both a defensive and an offensive nature to it, like a sword and a shield; it attacks the enemy and defends us from theirs. St. Paul writes, “In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:16-17). The devil may fire arrows of internal and external temptation at us, but God’s Word confirms over and over that the power of prayer is far stronger.

Prayer comes from your soul—it is projected to the cosmos out of your mouth (vocal) or through your mind (meditative or contemplative). It’s like a military airstrike against surrounding demons, especially when we call upon the names of Jesus and Mary.

The saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me” does not apply to demons. This is precisely how we attack. It is with the Word of God and by the Word of God, which is where all Catholic prayer comes from.

Prayer is a weapon. When you’re about to pray, it should be called “weapons hot,” so aim your bow and fire away.

Author’s Note: This article was inspired by my new book, Prayer As A Weapon, which will turn mice into men and spectators into gladiators. It is available from Sophia Institute Press.

Photo by Alireza Sahebi on Unsplash