“They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, he is called a Apollyon.”
– Revelation 9:11
Here, in Revelation, we see a picture of the angel of the bottomless pit, known as Satan, the devil. Gives his Hebrew name, Greek name, and it’s a picture that we see all throughout Revelation and all over scripture, that we have an adversary.
You have an adversary today who wants to destroy you. There are spiritual forces of evil at work in the heavenly realms, who, today, want to destroy you and want to pull you away from God and want to pull you away from others in Christ. They want to distract you, to deceive you, to discourage you, to do whatever they can in your life to keep you from experiencing full abundant life in Jesus and to keep you from spreading full abundant life in Jesus to others.
Revelation 9:11 Teaches Us that this a Spiritual Battle
I just want to remind you today that whatever you’re walking through is not, in the language of Ephesians 6, a battle against flesh and blood, but it’s a battle against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms, led by Satan, the angel of the bottomless pit.
So, we pray, God, open our eyes to see the spiritual battle that is raging around us. God, help us not to be ignorant of the fact that, right now, there is a spiritual adversary and all his demons who are working to harm us, working to harm others around us. So, God, we pray for your power and your strength and your joy and your wisdom against him, against them in the battle.
This Verse Leads Us to Be Vigilant
God, please help us. We pray today to be vigilant. Guard us, help us to be pure and holy. Help us to become more like you, Jesus. We pray for your protection in our lives. We pray for your protection of people around us. God, we pray that you would help us to engage spiritual battle with spiritual weapons, with your word, with the gospel, with righteousness, with truth, with justice, with all that we see described when it comes to the armor that you give us in Ephesians 6.
God, we pray that you would help us not to shrink back from engaging spiritual warfare around us. Help us to faithfully proclaim the gospel. God, help us not to be distracted by the adversary in ways that lead us to be silent with the gospel. Help us to speak the gospel today to others, and as we do, to know that we’re engaging in spiritual battle.
Revelation 9:11 Shows Us God’s Power
God, we pray that you would show your power, you would give us boldness to speak, and you would give others softness of heart and humility to hear.
We pray that Satan would be defeated today in so many different ways, as he tempts us, as he distracts us. God, we pray that he would be defeated. As people come to know you today. We pray for the spread of the gospel and victory and spiritual warfare in our lives. Through our lives today and the next day and the next day.
Revelation 9:11 Leads Us to Pray for the Yakkha People of Nepal
God, we pray for this as we think about all these unreached people groups that we prayed for, for the Yakkha people of Nepal, who for centuries have been kept by Satan in darkness, have never heard the good news of your grace and your love in Jesus.
God, we pray for the spread of the gospel to the Yakkha people. We pray that you would raise up laborers to go to them. Send people to engage in spiritual battle for them. We pray they might know your mercy in Jesus.
This Verse Leads Us to Pray for God to Give Us Spiritual Eyes
God, we pray that you would give us spiritual eyes. To see all day long today amidst whatever we’re walking through. There is an adversary who’s prowling like a lion. He wants to devour us, but He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. God, we look forward to Satan’s final downfall, when he will be cast out forever.
Come, Lord Jesus. Because we ask you to come quickly and help us to be faithful from this day until that day. In Jesus’ name, we pray. And in the name of the victor who has conquered sin, death, the grave, and Satan himself. in Jesus’ name, we pray all these things. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
