Prayer requests

I came across an interesting quote the other day, and wanted to share it with you:

               Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan.

                                                  John Bunyan

I don't know about you, but I thought the mental imagery here was awesome!

John Bunyan's life story is quite interesting; you might like to read it at some point. He came from humble beginnings, but was blessed beyond measure to have learned how to read and write. He also accompanied his father in his travels with his trade (a tinker) and these gave him opportunities to observe people and nature. His books would benefit from these observations years later. Imprisoned for his faith, he preached in the jail. Released, he resumed the work of a pastor and preacher, and we enjoy his many writings even today.

Prayer is indeed a shield to our souls, when we feel that the world and the people and demons in it are pressing in from all sides.

And lead us not into temptation,    but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:13)

The Word tells us that prayer is a sacrifice to God, and that it pleases Him when we come to Him in prayer.

The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked,    but the prayer of the upright pleases him. (Proverbs 15:8)

The last phrase is what really caught my eye. A scourge is a type of whip: it has a handle and multiple thongs of leather; sometimes each piece ends in a piece of metal that proves to tear the flesh of the person whipped.
Not a pretty picture, eh?
Painful.
And we can do that to the devil! Kinda reminds me of the Screwtape letters, by C. S. Lewis. The older demon instructed the younger one to get the Christian in his "care" to pay less attention to his prayer time, and to his Bible study....

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (I Peter 5:8-9)

Not only does prayer help us to resist the devil, but the Word says he will flee from us. Sounds to me like he is running from something painful.....maybe John Bunyan was right!!

Join me today in praying for God to shield us, to accept our prayers as sacrifice, and to "put the hurt on" the devil!