“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.”I want to blog on two different aspects of this quote. For the first, let’s talk about the topic of Satan, whom Cymbala refers to at the beginning of the quote. I have observed over the years that when the topic of Satan comes up, people tend to move towards one end of the spectrum or the other. The modern mind tends to laugh off the idea of spiritual warfare, and often thinks of Satan more as a cartoon character than an evil force to be reckoned with. Some go the far opposite direction, and see the work of Satan in everything from losing their keys to getting stuck in traffic.
But what if this perspective is correct, and Satan is real and present in our lives? What if this really is the devil's strategy – incrementally pushing us away from our dependence on God? How would that change the way we view spiritual warfare? How would that change the way we pray? How would that affect the perspective we carry regarding the challenges we face in our lives?
Question: As we move deeper towards the heart of God in prayer, how could/should this perspective of spiritual warfare influence the way we pray?
No comments:
Post a Comment