Prayer Article

I received this article today via email from a really smart woman. She got it from a online devotional. It really hit me hard and reminded me of some important things. Check it out...

"If I Were the Devil" (Daniel Henderson)


Life is war! Our enemy is powerful, cunning, experienced, and supernatural. His
minions are multitudinous. His ways are devious and destructive. He is a ravenous
lion (1 Peter 5:8), appears as an “angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14), and is working
24/7 all around the globe to undermine the work of the church and hurt the heart of
Christ.

In recent months, I’ve thought a lot about the tactics of our enemy. In my limited
understanding I will never comprehend the ful
l strategies of the devil. Still, I want to consider one aspect of his work by
postulating what I might do if I were in his shoes.

What I Would KNOW…

While the devil is NOT all-knowing, he is brilliant, supernatural, and shrewd from
thousands of years of experience. There are some things he certainly knows.

The Bible – James 2:19-20 tells us, “You believe that there is one God. You do well.
Even the demons believe — and tremble!” Satan and his demons are well-versed in
biblical information. They seek to twist, undermine, and cast doubt with respect to
the Bible. They also know what the Bible says about them and their work. When it
comes to our battle against evil, they are familiar with our classic instruction
about the war and supernatural weapons we have for the battle. As it says in
Ephesians 6:18, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,
being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the
saints.”

Church History – For millennia the devil has been engaged in spiritual warfare. He
is fully aware that his greatest defeats have come during seasons of spiritual
awakening and revival. It is during those times that the church has advanced in
supernatural power; converting lost souls, transforming society in countless ways,
and counteracting evil in its many forms. He is also aware that every one of these
seasons of exponential Christian advanc
ements has been rooted in movements of united, biblical prayer – which fueled
repentance, powerful preaching, and massive ministry expansion.

Human Nature – The devil cannot read our minds but is an expert in observing human
behavior. He knows our tendency to live independently of God’s supernatural
provision for our lives. He was active in Laodicea, for example, as he assisted
that church in living by their own riches, efforts, and sufficiency rather than
pursuing intimacy with their Savior. He likes things this way.

What I Would DO…

So, if I were the devil I would use my best deceptive tools to keep Christians from
praying together. I would keep them busy and isolated from one another. I would do
everything possible to keep them distracted and disinterested in biblical,
balanced, revival-style prayer gatherings.

To accomplish this, I would do the following:

Fuel the Spirit of Rugged Individualism – By keeping Christians independent of each
other, I would keep them independent from God. I would do everything possible to
make sure they believed that the only way to pray was at home in a “closet” – even
though the New Testament evidence is overwhelming about the priority of praying
together. I would keep them frustrated in their personal prayer lives by preventing
them from learning to pray through praying with others.

Dig Ruts of Boring Prayer – When they did try to pray together, I would make sure th
e prayer meetings were based on old, traditional approaches that focused more on
human needs than on God’s power. I would do everything possible to encourage
boredom and gossip in these gatherings so that most people would stay away from
these sleepy, passionless “prayer” times.

Delight in Theological Orthodoxy Without Spiritual Passion – I would know how
effective it is to get Bible-loving Christians to delight in theological correctness
without spiritual intimacy. It worked very well for me in Ephesus (see Revelation
2:1-7), a once-great church that fell out of love with Jesus, even though they had
great theology and teaching. I would let them be content with good sermons and
grand theological ideas, as long as they stayed off their knees in trying to make it
real in their hearts.

Encourage “Idle” Preaching on Prayer – I would know that sermons on prayer
frequently fall on deaf ears, especially when the leaders do not model prayer. I
would keep pastors content to just talk about inspiring prayer ideas as long as they
did not actually lead their people into extraordinary gatherings of prayer. I would
know that prayer information without prayer action just anesthetizes Christians from
spiritual reality. This would be a “win” for my team.

Promote “Success” in the Ministry – Crazy as it sounds, I might even promote church
growth as a replacement for real revival. I would encourage an interest in numb
ers, activities, strategies, and events. This would keep them away from brokenness,
repentance, and passion for God’s transforming presence, and it would distract them
from a real pursuit of the awakenings that have undermined my malevolent work.

Knowing that I could not keep people from eternal life because of the power of the
Gospel, I would at least try to keep them from eternal reward by getting them to
rely on their own flesh rather than the Spirit of God in their ministry efforts.

Yes, if I were the devil, this strategy would be one of my most important. I would
amass all of my most subtle and deceptive troops and tools to prevent spiritual
awakening at all costs. As long as Christians were sincere but isolated; active but
powerless; entertained but shallow – I would win. And I would love it that way.