Okay, this devotional is a bit longer than the ones I
usually distribute, but considering the times we are
in, I think it is worth taking the time to read it.
(as you can imagine, it could have been much longer!)
We should never make jokes about the Devil, or speak lightly
of him. He has great power: greater than any nation; greater
than any weapon that man has created. He rules the air
(the atmosphere around the earth).
His purpose is:
to hinder the work of God,
to prevent prayers from being answered,
to delay the Second Coming of Christ,
to oppose the Holy Spirit, to stop revival,
to destroy human life, and to destroy mankind
(which is God’s highest creation).
The Devil is a horrible, hostile, hateful monster. He changes
himself into a beautiful, enticing creature so that he can be
charming and make his ways attractive. But when he captures
his victim, he transforms into a hideous dragon and we experience
his intense wrath.
The scriptures warn us of his deceptions and their consequences:
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife?
Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises?
Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine,
who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at
wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it
goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and
poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights, and
your mind will imagine confusing things. You will be like
one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging.
“They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat
me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find
another drink?”
(Proverbs 23:29-35)
He has been cast forever out of God’s presence in Heaven,
and he knows that his ultimate doom is nearing. We would
think that so great a defeat in Heaven would cure him of his
intense spite and ill will (or at least discourage him from any
further attacks against God and His people).
But he is hopelessly depraved, and nothing but absolute force
can overcome his demented nature. There is no cure for him
and his perverted ways.
His ejection from Heaven and his confinement to the earth
only angers him more, and stirs his increased violence. He
is bent on orchestrating things far worse than this world
has ever experienced or imagined.
When we compare the scriptures to what we see around us ,
we know that we are living near the very end of the Christian
age; near the very end of the last days. Satan and his demons
are not a fantasy or a joke, but a reality.
It would seem that these negative thoughts could discourage
and depress a church, but the exact opposite was true! Those
who belong to the Lord will rejoice at the thought of His
returning to take them to their heavenly homes.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone
down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that
his time is short.”
(Revelation 12:12)
Satan fully understands that the only means of prolonging
his evil life is by delaying the second coming of Christ. For
this reason, he increases his evil schemes with all his might
in an effort to restrain people from believing in Jesus (which
would prevent an increase in the people of God’s kingdom).
Satan then starts the second step of his sabotage among Christians,
which is an effort to restrain them from devoting time and effort in
prayer. The closer it gets to the eve of our Lord’s second coming, the
greater Satan’s pressure will be against prayer!
One of the names of the Devil is “Satan”. It means “adversary” or
“opposer”. Satan opposes the work of God, and in the last days
(which we are living), he opposes both the saved and the lost. Why?
Because God’s desire is that none should perish.
*** Satan opposes the prayers of those who are saved. ***
One of Satan’s main objectives in opposing the work of God, is
to stop Christians from praying. Whether Christians realize it
or not, Satan knows that prayer is how we have access to God’s
riches. If Christians do not access these riches, they can become
weakened and exhausted spiritually.
Considering the purpose of Satan, we can understand that the
closer it gets to the eve of our Lord’s second coming, the greater
Satan’s pressure will be against prayer.
Often Christians forget to pray when they get up in the morning.
It doesn’t take long to pray the Lord’s prayer and ask God for His
help during the day.
Without God’s help it is difficult for us to do much good. Satan
knows that, so he opposes our morning prayer. He is delighted
to see how powerless we are that day!
Satan also opposes “praying through” (in other words, praying for
something until you get it). The parable of the persistent widow
teaches us the need to “pray through”, until we get what we need.
Jesus gave the purpose of the parable in Luke 18:1,
“That men ought always to pray, and not to faint”
(paraphrased, “we should always pray and not give up”).
The parable teaches that we should keep on asking God for the
thing we need until He gives it to us.
The parable is simple:
A widow woman came and asked a certain judge to grant her
justice against her enemy. This judge (who did not fear God and
did not care what people thought) did nothing for a while. But he
finally gave her what she wanted because he was tired of being
bothered by her.
The parable ends by saying that God will
“…bring about justice for his chosen ones,
who cry out to him day and night.”
(Luke 18:7)
The very last verse of the parable says,
“I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.
However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith
on the earth?”
(Luke 18:8)
This does not mean there won’t be any faith when Christ comes.
It means that many Christians will give up easily when they are
praying for some need. They will not “struggle on” in prayer
until they get what they are asking for!
“Praying through” in faith will be greatly lessened in the last days.
As this age draws to a close, Satan will increase his pressure against
“praying through”.
He does this to weaken the churches and cause a decrease in the
number of the elect being saved. Satan seeks to prolong his evil
life on this earth by opposing persistent prayer in the last days!
Satan hinders our prayers, and stops many of us from praying
through, by telling us,
“Prayer isn’t that important. The pastor tells you to pray,
pray, pray – but you are wasting your time. Your prayers
don’t really do anything. Give up! Don’t waste your time
praying. Do something else to show your faith.”
Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever thought that
praying doesn’t really do anything, and that it is only a
waste of time?
If you have ever had a thought like that, you can be sure it is
the Devil who has put that thought in your mind. Satan will
use all sorts of tricks to get you to stop praying for a certain
need.
Satan spends a lot of time and effort deceiving you into letting
your prayers slide. He works hard to stop you from praying
‘until’ you get what you need (not want) from God!
Apostle Paul said this –
“in order that Satan might not outwit us.
For we are not unaware of his schemes.”
(2 Corinthians 2:11)
Did you catch that? Believers are “not unaware” of Satan’s
schemes! Satan will certainly “get an advantage” over us
unless we are very careful not to give up when we are praying
for a need.
The Apostle James said,
“You desire but do not have”
(James 4:2)
then James gives us the reason for not getting what we need..
“you do not have, because you do not ask God”
Then he describes problems that can arise from our
disappointments of not getting what we want or need.
Look at how Satan can corrupt the minds of people:
“…so you kill. You covet but you cannot get
what you want, so you quarrel and fight.”
Too often we “have not” because the Devil has tricked us with
one of his divisive schemes. He has caused us to feel hopeless
or depressed. He has tempted us so intensely that we have
either stopped praying, or at a minimum our prayer life has
become anemic.
As Christians we need to remember that prayer is the main
thing we do to win the battle with Satan; in fact, prayer is
the battle!
As a reminder of the importance of prayer, look at this!
In the tenth chapter of Daniel we see that Daniel’s prayer
was heard by God the very first time he prayed.
Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the
first day that you set your mind to gain understanding
and to humble yourself before your God, your words
were heard, and I have come in response to them.
(Daniel 10:12)
But the answer did not come for “twenty days”, because a
demon from Satan opposed the answer.
But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me
twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief
princes, came to help me, because I was detained
there with the king of Persia.
(Daniel 10:13)
We can be thankful that Daniel did not let the Devil stop
him from praying until he got what he asked for from God!
*** Satan opposes the salvation of those who are lost. ***
Satan opposes you as you seek to be saved. He does not want
you to become a Christian. He will do everything in his power
to keep you from being saved. Why does he do that?
One reason is because he is a murderer. Jesus said that the Devil
“was a murderer from the beginning”.
You belong to your father, the devil, and
you want to carry out your father’s desires.
He was a murderer from the beginning, not
holding to the truth, for there is no truth in
him. When he lies, he speaks his native language,
for he is a liar and the father of lies.
(John 8:44)
It is Satan’s nature and desire to murder people. He murdered
our first parents in the Garden of Eden, by tempting them to
eat the forbidden fruit. He is a murderer of souls – and he wants
to murder you as well. He wants you to die and go to Hell.
Satan is raging throughout the world today because he knows his
time is short. More than ever, he is doing everything he can to delay
people from being saved, so they will suffer eternal death.
This is one of the reasons it is becoming harder and harder for people
to be saved in our time. The Devil will do everything in his power to
keep you from trusting Jesus and becoming a committed Christian.
One of the methods the Devil uses to keep you from being
saved, is to take away the Word of God from your heart.
In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus said,
“…the devil comes and takes away the word from
their hearts…”. Those along the path are the ones
who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away
the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe
and be saved.
(Luke 8:12)
If you are not yet saved, you will have to humble yourself.
If you think you know what to do, or what you need to think,
or feel – it is too easy for Satan to take the Gospel out of your heart!
The Bible says,
“Humble yourselves before the
Lord, and he will lift you up”
(James 4:10)
Too many go on and on in an unsaved condition. They have allowed
pride to cause them to think they know what to do. But they are not
wise! They really do not know what to do. That is why they are still
under Satan’s control.
Jesus died on the Cross to pay for our sins. He rose from the dead
to give us life. We have to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord,
in order for Him to lift us up! We have to give up ourselves and
whatever we think we know, so that Jesus will cleanse us from
all our sins with His blood through our simple faith in Him!
One of Satan’s tactics is to distract:
The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues
still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not
stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze,
stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.
(Revelation 9:20)
We could go on and on about Satan and his tactics, but rather
than give him that much attention, we need to focus on God
and His goodness. He loves us, forgives us, wants what is best
for us, and desires that none should perish. He proved His love
for mankind by sending His Son to die as a sacrifice for our sins.
Satan has given no proof of his love for anyone.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, help me to be more aware of Satan’s
schemes and how they lead to destruction and ultimately
death. Teach me to avoid his evil temptations to draw me
away from You. Remind me of the importance of staying
connected with You through prayer. When Satan tries to
discourage me from praying, help me to increase my
prayer time, so that I (and others) may receive the blessings
You have for us. Thank You, Jesus, for what You did for
me! I pray that remembering Your love for me will be the
motivation for all I do and say.”
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