The Primacy of Prayer (6)

…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints… Ephesians 6.18

This won’t be easy
The closer we examine this calling to pray always, without ceasing, and in everything – that is, to give prayer the primacy in our lives – the more doable it actually appears.

Start your day in prayer, looking toward the journey ahead, and seeking the Lord to establish your work. Set appointments to meet with the Lord for prayer. Go forward mindful of the Lord, Who is with you, within you, underneath you, and throughout everything. Set your mind on Him, listen for Him, and be ready at all times with a word of thanks, praise, or supplication. Sing to the Lord. Yeah. You can do that. It will take cutting some new grooves in your daily walk with and work for the Lord, but you can get there. You can pray always, without ceasing, and in everything. And as you do, the peace of God will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

But as in most things, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. There is trouble ahead in your journey with the Lord. Your adversary, the devil, stalks about looking for someone to devour, and he sets his table of temptation, trials, troubles, and other traps for each of us, every day. He is especially powerful with those he is able to distract from the work of prayer. When we are not in communion with the Lord through prayer, we are vulnerable to the wiles of the evil one. Ask Adam and Eve. Ask Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Peter, and so many others.

When the devil can get your attention apart from prayer, he can lead you right into his jaws, and then, well, it can be hell to pay.

So as simple as praying always and in everything can seem, it’s not going to be an easy road. You’ll need to be ready to deal with the devil at every step along the way.

Temptation
We’re most vulnerable to the devil, and his troll-line of temptation, when we are wandering along the path of life apart from communion with the Lord. Temptation is not sin. As Martin Luther observed, you can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair. But temptation can lead to sin unless we recognize it for what it is. To be tempted, Helmut Thielicke explained, is to find yourself at the point of wanting to be disloyal to God. Like Asaph in Psalm 73.

Asaph was a humble servant of God, diligent in his devotion to the Lord and content with his relatively unadorned lifestyle. Until he stopped to think about it. As he observed the rich, going through the motions of religion while they aggrandized themselves at the expense of others, always with the best food and clothing, in good health to the very end, and unconcerned about what anyone, including God, might think – as Asaph contemplated these rich people, there began to rise within him a feeling of resentment and jealousy. He was being tempted by the devil to covet, the easy bait on the hook of sin, because covetousness is the gateway to all other sin.

But Asaph recognized this invitation to disloyalty, and he stood up to it promptly, boldly, and completely, so that, by the end of Psalm 73, he can be seen rejoicing in the Lord and fully happy to be His humble servant once again.

The way to deal with temptation, and thus to defeat the devil’s plan to devour you, is to recognize it as such, resist the invitation to sin, reject the proffered path, and return to the Lord through prayer and His Word. We’ll only recognize temptation when, through meditating on God’s Word and Law, we have a good idea what sin looks like (Rom. 7.7; 1 Jn. 3.4). Resisting the devil and rejecting his suggested path are part of the same action, which is the logical outcome of recognizing sin and hating it as such (Ps. 97.10). We can then return to the Lord’s path by seeking Him in prayer, and rejoicing in His presence, promise, and power.

Our most important weapon
We can expect to engage this spiritual struggle against the devil every day. We need to take up the weapons of our warfare and be on guard continuously against spiritual forces of wickedness in high places, which seek to distract us from our Kingdom-and-glory calling in the Lord.

The Lord has provided us with strong weapons for this struggle. Truth, righteousness, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, faith, assurance of salvation, and the Word of God: we’ll need each one of these at one time or another to maintain the Lord’s victory over the devil. But prayer we will need at all times, as Paul reminds us 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.” Always, all, all, all. Got it?

That’s temple talk, isn’t it? Praying at all times. Praying for all the saints. Being watchful in all prayer with a view to defeating every foe that would hinder or divert our daily journey with the Lord. Prayer is the incense that fills the temple of our bodies and wafts into the nostrils of our loving heavenly Father. Stay in prayer, and you’ll be better positioned to stand your ground against the devil, when he comes suggesting some thought, affection, word, or deed which would dishonor God and derail your faith.

Prayer is the last-named of the weapons in our spiritual armamentarium, not because it’s the least important, but because it’s the most important. Praying always, without ceasing, and in everything will help us keep the devil in check, and advance the cause of Christ and His Kingdom along the path of our daily journey with Him.

For reflection
1.  How would you suggest preparing for the day’s temptations during your morning time of prayer?

2.  What should be the first step you take whenever you become aware that you’re being tempted? What should be the next step after that?

3.  Why does it make sense to believe that praying always and in everything is the best defense against the wiles of the devil?

Next steps – Conversation: Meditate on Psalm 73. Asaph found several ways of escape from the temptation that was before him (1 Cor. 10.13). How many can you identify? Share your findings with a Christian friend.

T. M. Moore
Each of our “next steps” exercises is tied into goals and disciplines involved in working your Personal Mission Field. If you have not yet identified your Personal Mission Field, watch the brief video showing you how to get started right away (click here).

We’re happy to provide ReVision each day at no charge, together with a PDF download of each week’s study. God provides the needs of this ministry through the prayers and gifts of those who believe in our work and benefit from it. Please seek the Lord in prayer, and wait on Him concerning whether you should share in the support of The Fellowship of Ailbe with your gifts. You can donate online with a credit card or through PayPal by clicking the Contribute button here or at the website. Or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.