Our Compass

This afternoon I have been pondering on 1 Peter 4:7 which says "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." One of the supreme joys of life & the throbbing heartbeat of our relationship with the Lord Jesus, (the nearest we will be to God this side of heaven,) is reading His precious Word and spending time with Him in prayer. It is our compass, so to speak, which helps keep us on the right path. Yet why does it seem so hard to do? The answer? Because prayer is a battle. A fight. It's spiritual warfare. Someone once said that the secret prayer chamber is a bloody battleground. Prayer is not preparation for the battle, it is the battle. You see, whenever we pray, we are entering into the realm of spiritual warfare with the enemy. The Bible gives us a very descriptive picture of our adversary. Peter tells us that our real enemy is not each other but is the devil himself who is like a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Lions roar when they are hungry, which indicates the devil is highly motivated to hunt you and me down. He is not complacent. Peter says he "prowls" which tells us he is activated and energized as he tries to defeat us. Our enemy is not lazy and he is "looking" because he is totally dedicated to defeating us and destroying our relationships, our witness, our ministries, our families, as well as everything about us as God's children. He doesn't lose his focus or get distracted. His goal is to "devour" us rendering us completely useless to God in our Christian lives and ineffective in our prayers. But while he may be more powerful than we are, thank God we have the authority over him in Jesus' Name. For The Lord is the One who gives us access into the very presence of God and authority over our enemies. The Lord has equipped us with what we need to have victory in our walk from day to day. We have the weapons of God's Word and the power of Prayer and Praise which are powerful tools against our enemy that will defeat him every time. O how we need to know who our adversary is, what his strategy is, and how we are to protect ourselves defensively while going on the offense against him. Thank God we have victory in Jesus.