There are three worlds into which we must pray—God's world, my world, and the unseen world.

God's world includes nations, world leaders, creation, and people everywhere—the whole cosmos for which Jesus died.

My world is clear—my life, my needs and temptations, my relationships and my witness.

The unseen world is less obvious, although the Bible speaks about it plainly. "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12.

The Bible gives us a "heads-up" about the dark side. At the forefront of this side is "the god of this age", "the prince of this world", "the ruler of the kingdom of the air". This evil leader is intent and focused. With his hosts of demons—fallen angels who joined his mission—his goals are to make life as painful as possible for the people of Earth, and to keep sinners from receiving the grace of God.

A veil separates the unseen world from the world that is seen. But sometimes, the veil is pierced.

When Jesus died, the earth shook, rocks split apart, darkness descended at midday, tombs were thrown open, and the veil in the temple was torn in two. These miraculous signs evidenced the war taking place between Heaven and hell. God engaged evil in hand-to-hand combat. God won, but at great cost; and creation convulsed at the sacrifice.

Whenever we see death, disease, poverty, cruelty, immorality, terrorism, abuse, crime and war, we observe emblems of the larger battle—God against the devil, angels against demons.

It is important to recognise the existence of the dark side. But it is equally important not to fixate on it. The New Testament contains about 80 references to the devil—but only 80, compared with close to 3,000 references to Christ! We face a serious enemy, but that enemy is in defeat. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has triumphed. Revelation 5:5.

When Christ died, he not only forgave us our sins, but he also "disarmed the powers and authorities, making a spectacle of them, triumphing over them". See Colossians 2:15. Christ has won!

Now Christ's victory must be worked out in real life through the church. This is "our struggle". Ephesians 6:12. In this struggle we have weapons, especially prayer. Paul concludes his list of weapons with this counsel: "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions . . . be alert and always keep on praying." Ephesians 6:18.

How can we pray into the unseen world? In two primary ways.

First, we can praise God for the success of our Saviour in the war between good and evil. Visualise the temptations, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus—and thank God for his triumph through it all. Picture Jesus sitting victoriously at the right hand of the Father, ministering the benefits of salvation as your High Priest. Hebrews 9:24; 10:12–14. See him blessing the entire world with his accomplishment, and give him praise.

Second, we can pray against the incursion of evil into our own lives and the lives of people around us. Rebuke evil in Jesus' name. Invoke the authority of the Word. Remind yourself of the devil's complete failure to thwart the plan of salvation. Invoke Christ's victory as you ask God for a barrier of protection around yourself and all who are trying to do good in this world. Pray for the ministry of angels, and for holy men and women throughout the world who work to ease suffering.

We are surrounded by "a great cloud of witnesses" in the world that is not seen. Hebrews 12:1. By faith, our eyes can pierce the veil and be fixed on our chief witness, Jesus. He left the unseen world and came into our world, so that even in this life we can look full into his wonderful face.