Be of sober spirit; be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8, NASB)
This is not your feel-good devo that you read over a cup of coffee. This devo should change the way we look at adversity in our battle with Satan. Satan is real, so pay attention.
Satan attacks the ones who are following Jesus. If we are not loving and worshipping God, He has us where He wants us, especially those who are simply visiting with Jesus in a lukewarm way, but make no mistake, Satan also has dominion over those who love evil.
That’s just who he is and what he does. Just look around. Satan attacks everyone. Satan attacks us as we pray, just as he did Daniel many years ago.
In the book of Daniel, we find that Daniel had been praying fervently for relief and understanding but with no results. Daniel did not know that Satan (i.e., the prince of the kingdom of Persia) was attacking and hindering his prayers. Satan did everything he knew to do to eradicate Daniel and his influence.
Then Daniel, full of the Holy Spirit, received this response from God: Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words” (Daniel 10:12). God hears, and He always provides in His time and in His way.
Wow. How does this happen? Satan is able to win skirmishes because of our sinful nature, but even sincere prayers from the most devoted men and women are hindered and attacked because Satan wants to destroy us and our influence.
It’s amazing when you think about it. And when I say our prayers are hindered, know that saints like you and Daniel also have a residual sinful Adamic nature that often fails us. Oswald Chambers said, “Jesus Christ never trusted human nature, yet He was never cynical because He trusted absolutely in what He could do for human nature.”
And what He did for human nature is supply us the Spirit of the Living God and shed us His blood so that He could win the victory for and through us. And this frustrates the “hell” out of Satan every time.
So, what do we do? I learned a lot from a recent Links Players lesson on adversity and attacks by Satan. Dennis Darville stated, “We are not on a cruise ship but a battleship.” The summary was that when we are attacked, we must put on the full armor of God (see Ephesians 6:10-17). We are in a battle, not a casual walk in the park filled with comfort and ease.
C.S. Lewis has some wisdom on the subject of Satan. In his classic The Screwtape Letters, Lewis claimed that we make two mistakes regarding the devil. One is to give him more authority than he deserves. The other is to deny that he exists. I would say our culture makes the latter mistake more than the former.
Someone once said, “The next time the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future.” The victory is ours. Stand firm in the armor of God and trust. Your passionate prayers are being answered now. Jesus said so! And He is always enough.
Prayer – Thank you, Jesus, for the victory over Satan now and ultimately in the end.