janbear
09-20-2009, 11:03 AM
PICTURE PERFECT
"Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."
- 1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
Pretend you're locked in a struggle for your life. You and
your assailant are grappling on the ground with each other. A weapon lies just
a few feet away. You know that the person who gets control of the weapon first
is the one who will prevail, so every ounce of your strength is spent on
getting it. But your adversary is just as committed to stopping you.
That's a perfect picture of prayer. Each of us is engaged in
a war against the devil. Although we seldom realize it, we're always wrestling
against the unseen powers in the spiritual realm (Ephesians 6:12). There's this
unending struggle, and prayer is the weapon that will turn the tide.
Satan will do whatever he can to keep us from praying-from
connecting and communicating with God-because he knows we're completely
helpless against him on our own (John 15:5). But when we approach the devil on
praying ground, in the mighty strength of the Lord, we stand in a strength
that's superior to his in every way. He wants to keep that weapon out of our hands!
It's interesting that God's Word compares the devil to a
lion (1 Peter 5:8). When a lion catches its prey, it will often use its
powerful jaws to clamp down on the mouth of its unfortunate victim. It does
this so its prey can't cry out for help from the rest of its herd.
That's Satan's strategy against us. He wants to keep us
quiet, to keep us from prayer, because he knows the armies of heaven are at our
beck and call.
godspeaks
"Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."
- 1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
Pretend you're locked in a struggle for your life. You and
your assailant are grappling on the ground with each other. A weapon lies just
a few feet away. You know that the person who gets control of the weapon first
is the one who will prevail, so every ounce of your strength is spent on
getting it. But your adversary is just as committed to stopping you.
That's a perfect picture of prayer. Each of us is engaged in
a war against the devil. Although we seldom realize it, we're always wrestling
against the unseen powers in the spiritual realm (Ephesians 6:12). There's this
unending struggle, and prayer is the weapon that will turn the tide.
Satan will do whatever he can to keep us from praying-from
connecting and communicating with God-because he knows we're completely
helpless against him on our own (John 15:5). But when we approach the devil on
praying ground, in the mighty strength of the Lord, we stand in a strength
that's superior to his in every way. He wants to keep that weapon out of our hands!
It's interesting that God's Word compares the devil to a
lion (1 Peter 5:8). When a lion catches its prey, it will often use its
powerful jaws to clamp down on the mouth of its unfortunate victim. It does
this so its prey can't cry out for help from the rest of its herd.
That's Satan's strategy against us. He wants to keep us
quiet, to keep us from prayer, because he knows the armies of heaven are at our
beck and call.
godspeaks