The One Concern of the Devil
Dear Champions,
Thursday, May 2nd was the National Day of prayer , so that is the reason for this scripture and short excerpt found in Jim Cymbala's book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.
Satan's main strategy with God's people has always been to whisper, "Don't call, don't ask, don't depend on God to do great things. You'll get along fine if you just rely on your own cleverness and energy." The truth of the matter is that the devil is not terribly frightened of our human efforts and credentials. But he knows his kingdom will be damaged when we lift up our hearts to God.
Listen to David's confident assertion in Psalm 4:3. "Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him." That was David's whole posture, his instinct, and especially his approach to warfare. It doesn't matter what the Philistine armies have. If we call out to God, he will give us the victory. If we backslide and don't call, then we can be defeated by a tiny army.
I can almost hear David saying, "You can chase me, you can persecute me, you can do anything you want - but when I call on God, you're in trouble! The Lord will hear when I call to him."
The devil is not terribly frightened of our human efforts and credentials. But he knows his kingdom will be damaged when we begin to lift up our hearts to God.
Are not we all prone to be a little cocky and think we can handle things just fine? But let some trouble come, and how quickly we sense our inadequacy. Trouble is one of God's great servants because it reminds us how much we continually need the Lord. Otherwise, we tend to forget about entreating him. For some reason, we want to carry on by ourselves.
From 18th Century Teacher Jonathan Edwards: "The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from prayer. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray."
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
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