Sunday, January 1, 2012

Satanic Attack

This is not what I planned on writing for today. This week our family experienced what could only be a satanic attack directed against all of us, but especially against me. Pastor Bob told me to be prepared, and I thought I was, but little did I know the ways of the devil when he sets his sights on you. He will find a weakness and exploit it for his own uses, all the while convincing you nothing is wrong. Only when you realize what is happening and summons help does he start to end the assault and even then he does so with great reluctance.

First and foremost, we must remember that satan is not all powerful. He is a very powerful adversary; however, God does not leave us to fend for ourselves without His benevolent protection. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (Ephesians 6:10 KJV)

We have to remember, that and be strong, remembering that He is on our side.

We are told to "be strong and resist the devil." We are not told to "arm ourselves and go fight the devil" Why not? The answer is simple, our salvation has already been won by the blood of CHRIST dying for us on the Cross.

John 10: 28-30

28: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.
29: My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand.
30: I and My Father are one. (KJV)

Once you are God's, you are His - Satan cannot have you, your spirit, your soul or your eternal life living with CHRIST in the Kingdom of HIS Father.

Satan realizes he cannot have us, but he can still create havoc and mayhem in our lives as he tries to thwart the Lord's plan for us. Satan is constantly trying to steal our peace and joy, he wants to cause confusion and anger. Most of all, he will try his hardest to cheat you out of the blessings the Lord has promised to those who believe in Him. Most of all, and what I have found out recently, the more you attempt to live the life God wants, the stronger satan attacks you. His goal is to make us as ineffective towards God's witness as possible.

We must always know and remember that God wants believers to be with Him, but Satan wants you and will do his best to destroy everything in your life that is good. We know that we will continue to be assaulted by satan the question is, how do we over come those attacks?

For the answer we must go back to Paul and his letter to the Ephesians.

Ephesians 6:11-24.

11: Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13: Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14: Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15: And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16: Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17: And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
19: And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20: For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
21: But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:
22: Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts.
23: Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
24: Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. (KJV)

When Paul is telling us to put on the Armor of God what is he really telling us? There is only one way to defeat satan: by prayer.

It is through our prayers that God gives to us His energy, divine power and protection. The one thing satan hates above all else is for us to persist in prayer and then claim the promises of God. Satan has no defense against the prayers which crushes him and will send him fleeing from our lives. The one thing we have to do is remember to pray and not try this on our own. (Haven't I said that before?) If we do not pray we are leaving ourselves wide open for attacks on all fronts.

If you are a CHRISTian who does not cry out for God's direction, protection and guidance and if you don't put on His armor of faith every day, you are easy pickings for satan to grab onto.

When we pray it is essential that we realize that praying is not simply, "Lord, bless me, bless him, bless her. Give me this, give me that." My kids call this a "God is good, God is great" prayer. We have to get serious about the business of praying. Prayer is all about humbling yourself and acknowledging, not only your needs, but also His presence in our lives, His holiness and His righteousness.

We must understand what it means and takes to release God's awesome power, with prayer. When Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:18 "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." (KJV) He is referring to prayer in general.

Paul talks about praying at all times. We are most vulnerable to satanic attacks when we are not praying. Satan will change events in our lives to defeat us. He will work to get you too busy, distracted or negligent to pray because he knows that once you are prayerless, you will soon become concerned and worried. Those burdens will get heavier and heavier and you will become more and more discouraged. Not only will you become emotionally and spiritually weak, you will become physically weak. The more your guard is lowered, the stronger the attack will be. Brothers, we cannot afford to be prayerless in the face of satan and his attacks!

First Thessalonians 5: 16-19 gives us further instruction (KJV)

16: Rejoice evermore.
17: Pray without ceasing.
18: In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
19: Quench not the Spirit (KJV)

How can we pray without ceasing? What this expression means is living in God. "Praying without ceasing means living in constant communication with God, in constant awareness of His presence. To use an example. It is sort of like when we went from a dial up connection for the internet to DSL. With DSL, we are always on line, we are in constant communications.

Now for the meat of the subject. Getting on your knees before Him. We absolutely cannot be in a discerning prayer life with God unless we are on our knees, both physically and spiritually every moment, praying as we ought. Satan hates it when you are on your knees. Remember, God is omnipresent and is always available to each and every one of us. When you are driving to work in the morning what are you thinking about? Why don't you talk to God? I used to, but had recently quit and started listening to talk radio. What happened when I did that? The attacks stepped up. As soon as I started having my talks with God in the morning and again on the way home the attacks started to subside.

Remember, no one can put on your spiritual armor for you. If you want to have God's best in your life and the life of your family, make prayer a habit.