Prayer requests

We've been studying a good bit recently about resisting the devil and his schemes. I feel moved today to ask if some of us are being threatened and intimidated by the devil.

It's a common occurrence in the life of believers. In fact, any time that we are determined to pray more, to study more, to be more kind, to share the gospel more actively, etc., we can just expect him to step up his attacks! As C. S. Lewis noted in his amazing work, The Screwtape Letters, it's the progress of a believer on fire that needs to be slowed down and impeded. The lukewarm Christian, who is not interested in working and glorifying God, is no threat to the devil!

Our adversary wants to attack our desires, our thoughts, our activities, even how we see ourselves. We must be on guard and abide in Christ through surrender and communication with Him. As we slip on the pieces of the armor of God, we must be in prayer, too.

The devil knows that if we follow Jesus' greatest commandment, to love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind, that he is powerless over us. Our first prayer when we feel Satan is working against us can be to ask the Lord to guard our hearts; to keep us from being complacent or from letting anything be an idol -- anything that takes first place in our lives, and pushes Christ out of that spot? That's an idol! Ask Him to help us remember His sacrifice for us, and that we are safe in Him.

Next, ask Him to defend our minds. As we tighten the strap on the helmet of His salvation, remind ourselves to keep our thoughts where they belong.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

We can saturate our mind with verses that keep us aware of His care and protection. Those will help defend our minds.
Next, we can keep the devil at bay by staying calm.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:15)

He is not the God of chaos or confusion, but offers the peace that is beyond understanding. We can ask Him to calm our hearts and emotions, and fill us with His peace.

Sometimes if the devil is troubling us, we are tempted to let the wrong kind of communication slip out of our mouths. (Am I right?) It may be an irritated response, or it may be reckless words that slip out and hurt others as surely as if they were swords. Ask Him to help us guard our tongues so that the devil doesn't cause us to use words as weapons. Our testimony suffers and Satan scores a win when that happens.

Lastly, one of the devil's best tools is depression and discouragement. We can pray that God will place His hedge around us, so that our bodies are preserved -- pure, holy, and healthy -- for Him. As women, we are often prey to depression and we act it out in ways that are unhealthy; perhaps we abuse ourselves with neglect, or contempt, or too much food, or unhealthy attitudes. When we pray, we can remind ourselves that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made," and that we are loved, JUST AS WE ARE. We can ask Him to help us ignore the devil and glorify Him in our bodies.

In fact, I truly believe that we can be pretty invincible if we are praying and trying to glorify God with every part of our lives! Satan may try to tear us down, but through intimate communication with Christ, we can become more and more like Him and remain in Him, safe from the devil's wiles.

If you are feeling the presence of the devil in your life, please know that all of the prayer warriors who study here are kneeling with you and praying.
If you have any kind of request, or a praise, that you'd like for us to know about, please leave a comment. It's an honor to pray with you.

Let's pray!