I believe that prayer matters. So does Satan.
Satan actively works to stop my praying - and, too often, he succeeds.
I know - as Satan does - that prayer is vital in advancing the kingdom of God. Jesus prayed throughout his work on earth and called on us to pray because he said prayer is powerful. We are working with God as we pray.
But everyone who prays knows that we are constantly bombarded with reasons not to pray - thoughts that Satan drops into our minds.
Watchman Nee, a great Chinese Christian who died in a Chinese Communist prison camp several decades ago, was aware of this issue in his own life and discussed it in his book The Prayer Ministry of the Church.
Nee says we must be watchful and persistent in our prayers - we must fight the distractions that Satan uses to turn us away from time with the Lord.
He points to Paul's words in Ephesians 6:18: "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for all the Lord's people."
Paul's comments come at the end of a great passage in Ephesians 6 where he urges us to "put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes". He outlines the various spiritual weapons at our disposal to combat Satan's wiles, culminating in prayer.
What does it mean to "be alert" as Paul says? It means being aware that even seemingly harmless things may be used by the evil one to divert us from prayer.
Maybe it is our jobs or even our families. It could be worthy church activities. Or, it could be hobbies or pleasant diversions which draw our minds away from prayer.
More damaging, perhaps, is the thought that prayer is ultimately useless. Even prayer warriors may fall victim to that idea if fervent prayers are not answered as we wish.
Nee says we must begin by placing prayer in a "preeminent position". We must take on faith the Bible's declarations that prayer matters and is effective in carrying out God's plan on earth.
For many Christians, the demand of church activities can squeeze out the time normally spent in prayer. If that's the case, Nee says, we should bring these duties before God and ask him to ensure they will not suffer any damage as we pray.
He suggests we ask God to "protect this time of prayer and forbid Satan to intrude for I am using this time to seek your glory."
Nee also calls on us to ask God to help us pray because we may find we don't have the words to pray through the distracting thoughts Satan always uses against us.
As well, he warns against praying empty words - just rhyming off old prayers without sincerity.
"Do not pray without any desire in your heart," he writes. "All prayers should be governed by heart desire."
We should be specific in our prayers, as specific as we can be. Satan will try to get us to pray vaguely and generally.
Being alert also means watching what happens after we pray, Nee says. We can adjust our prayers as we see how God is working.
The apostle Paul saw that spiritual forces - good and bad - are far more powerful than what is in our world. Whether we realize it or not, we believers are engaged in spiritual warfare.
Satan is trying to take away our most powerful weapon - prayer. We must fight back.
Satan actively works to stop my praying - and, too often, he succeeds.
I know - as Satan does - that prayer is vital in advancing the kingdom of God. Jesus prayed throughout his work on earth and called on us to pray because he said prayer is powerful. We are working with God as we pray.
But everyone who prays knows that we are constantly bombarded with reasons not to pray - thoughts that Satan drops into our minds.
Watchman Nee, a great Chinese Christian who died in a Chinese Communist prison camp several decades ago, was aware of this issue in his own life and discussed it in his book The Prayer Ministry of the Church.
Nee says we must be watchful and persistent in our prayers - we must fight the distractions that Satan uses to turn us away from time with the Lord.
He points to Paul's words in Ephesians 6:18: "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for all the Lord's people."
Paul's comments come at the end of a great passage in Ephesians 6 where he urges us to "put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes". He outlines the various spiritual weapons at our disposal to combat Satan's wiles, culminating in prayer.
What does it mean to "be alert" as Paul says? It means being aware that even seemingly harmless things may be used by the evil one to divert us from prayer.
Maybe it is our jobs or even our families. It could be worthy church activities. Or, it could be hobbies or pleasant diversions which draw our minds away from prayer.
More damaging, perhaps, is the thought that prayer is ultimately useless. Even prayer warriors may fall victim to that idea if fervent prayers are not answered as we wish.
Nee says we must begin by placing prayer in a "preeminent position". We must take on faith the Bible's declarations that prayer matters and is effective in carrying out God's plan on earth.
For many Christians, the demand of church activities can squeeze out the time normally spent in prayer. If that's the case, Nee says, we should bring these duties before God and ask him to ensure they will not suffer any damage as we pray.
He suggests we ask God to "protect this time of prayer and forbid Satan to intrude for I am using this time to seek your glory."
Nee also calls on us to ask God to help us pray because we may find we don't have the words to pray through the distracting thoughts Satan always uses against us.
As well, he warns against praying empty words - just rhyming off old prayers without sincerity.
"Do not pray without any desire in your heart," he writes. "All prayers should be governed by heart desire."
We should be specific in our prayers, as specific as we can be. Satan will try to get us to pray vaguely and generally.
Being alert also means watching what happens after we pray, Nee says. We can adjust our prayers as we see how God is working.
The apostle Paul saw that spiritual forces - good and bad - are far more powerful than what is in our world. Whether we realize it or not, we believers are engaged in spiritual warfare.
Satan is trying to take away our most powerful weapon - prayer. We must fight back.
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