Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8
I always wanted to send my husband and children out the door covered in prayer. I knew who was prowling outside. Why in the world would any loving mom and wife resist the opportunity to pray with every ounce of fervor and strength she has knowing that the enemy is waiting right outside to devour your precious ones. Let me make this a little more vivid for you. Let’s look at the definition of devour as stated in the Doubleday
Dictionary:
Devour: To eat up greedily, to destroy; lay waste to, to take in greedily with the mind or senses, to engross the attention of.
Get the picture? Satan does all this and more. What is the best way to protect our loved ones? Through prayer, fasting and knowledge of the word! This is not optional! If you want to do your best to protect and nurture those that have been entrusted to you, if you truly believe that prayer renders results and our God of love is all powerful to answer those prayers then this is a no brainer! And not only is it a no brainer, it is commanded here:
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18
See any similarities in the verses that have been mentioned here? We are told once again to be alert! As a military guard stands watch to keep the enemy from attacking, we are to stay alert and stand, kneel, sit, however you choose to do it, in prayer! And not just for our own family, but for all the saints! I believe prayer must be a consistent thing in the life of a committed Christian. Fasting only strengthens the result according to Jesus in the book of Mark:
And he said unto them, “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting”. Mark 9:29
We are told in scripture that we will be held accountable for the knowledge God has given us. His word has made it clear what we are to do here. Stay alert and pray.
You think that when children are little, there are problems? Just wait till they are pre-teens and then teens. The physical bumps and bruises, occasional owies become hurts of the heart in ways that are devastating. I remember when one of my sons became the target of two other children, one boy and very popular girl. They were verbally and emotionally abusive. My son came home heart broken for three quarters of that year. The boy who was half of this destructive duo came from a family we went to church with. Unfortunately they were a family that believed their children would never do anything wrong! So what did we do? We prayed, we were patient and we loved the stuffing out of our boy. The very next year in school, our son bloomed. On the other hand, the boy who had caused our son so much pain suddenly had no friends. Truth eventually reveals bad character for others to discern.
When this happened we encouraged our boy to treat this young man as he had wished he had been treated. We never wanted this boy to hurt, but we did praise God for answered prayer and the fact that our son was delivered from the attack.
We were thankful to God that he answered our prayer and interceded when we really felt there was not much we could do. And you know what it did for our son? It gave him compassion. He has come to the rescue many times for kids who are being abused by others, including the young man who abused him. God is always faithful and he always has a plan. Did God cause my son to suffer that way? Of course not, but as He always does He took something ugly and turned it into something beautiful for His purposes and my son’s spiritual growth.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
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