SUNDAY SERMON: Satan will do anything to prevent prayer
A young woman praying .The temptations in the desert remain one of those events we go back to frequently to understand how to walk in the footsteps of Christ.
PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- It’s good to remember how Jesus was tempted. Good, not because Satan will tempt us the same way, but good because even Jesus, the holy Son of God, had to suffer temptation. He looks on our weakness with eyes of mercy.
The temptations in the desert remain one of those events we go back to frequently to understand how to walk in the footsteps of Christ. As we read in Hebrews: “The high priest we have is not incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us, but has been put to the test in the same way as we are, though without sin.”
If Satan appeared to you, the way he did to Jesus, would he tempt you the same way? Would he ask you to turn stones into loaves of bread? First of all, not all temptations come directly from the Evil One. Why should he waste his time trying to convince you to do something wrong if other people are happy to do his work for him?
Then there is this: our own laziness. Probably the most common sin among us Christians is our failure to pray. A preacher of the past century used to say: “Those who pray are few and the few of us who do pray, pray little.” Was he exaggerating? He was encouraging us, as Jesus encouraged his disciples: “Pray lest you enter into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak!”
Haven’t you noticed that after putting off prayer – because you’re busy, because you prefer to watch television or because you just don’t feel like praying – you’re weak? Some innocent remark from a friend sparks an argument. The silliest lustful attraction becomes an obsession. The desire for revenge sets your heart on fire with a passion straight from hell and yet you feel justified. You begin to fantasise about winning a bet. When you lose, you feel depressed and begin to brood over your failures. You’re angry with God because some of your friends are rich and you’re buried under a mountain of debt.
It’s good to remember how Jesus was tempted. Good, not because Satan will tempt us the same way, but good because even Jesus, the holy Son of God, had to suffer temptation. He looks on our weakness with eyes of mercy.
If there is temptation that does come from the Devil, it’s the one he uses to turn us away from prayer. I’m convinced that he uses it regularly against the disciples of Christ because it works. Satan knows that if he can keep us from dedicating ourselves to prayer, he hardly needs to do anything else. He knows that prayer is his greatest enemy. He fears the one who prays. He hates prayer, if only because he is much too proud to ask God to help him. He will do anything – he will whisper in our ear any excuse he can think of – if only he can keep us from spending time with God in prayer.
