Post by Cindy on Aug 24, 2015 11:41:41 GMT -5
The Lord has really been impressing on me how much Satan is attacking us all, especially our families. I already wrote about this in Satan is very active in our lives right now which I hope you'll read first, but would like to address another part of what we can do about it here.
There's a spiritual battle going on around our families. We can't see the actual battle, but it's happening, none the less. Satan will do everything he can to prevent family members from being saved, or if they already are, to prevent them from being effective for Christ. He will do all he can to cause strife and division in our families, to tempt family members to sin, in order to break us and them down and make everyone ineffective for Christ and in our life. Remember, he's out to ruin everything and that's exactly what he's attempting.
There are some things that we or our family members can allow into our life that make the battle even more intense. What are these things? The bible tells us that it's anything involving the occult, such as horoscopes, astrology, tarot cards, psychics, mediums, etc. It's also things that you wouldn't normally associate with demons, such as premarital and extramarital sex, and homosexual relationships, child molestation or pornography. Often people wind up inviting demonic oppression into their life when they get involved in these things. I think we can all see how Satan is pushing all these things in the world today and making them strong temptations for the unwary. But there's yet another group of things that causes the battle to be more intense that most don't realize and that's anger, malice, and bitterness. That's why we're warned so strongly against allowing any bitter root to get started within us. Again, all things that we often see in families that are having problems. Sadly too, the anger and bitterness can wind up rooting in the very one that should be aware of the battle and be praying against it! That happened to me until the Lord made me aware of it, which I explained in my other article, and it happens to many of us. We need to be especially aware of this when we start feeling angry and upset and remember what our Lord taught about forgiveness.
This is what Paul was talking about too in Ephesians 6:10–20 when he warns us to put on the armor of God. We really need to study that and take it to heart for the most important weapon we have in this battle is the weapon of prayer. No, we don't need to "bind Satan" or demons or do any of the other little rituals that the false teachings talk about. What we need to do is pray that the Lord will fight for us and our family and we need to pray that regularly. Best of all would be to pray scripture itself over or family. But the words aren't really that important, because the Lord knows our hearts and He will help us to pray if we ask Him to. We need to keep in mind that what's most important is that every member of our family be reconciled to God first, and then to us and each other. Next, we need to be sure of three things: first that we are spending time daily in His Word, for that's how God renews our minds and hearts and how He speaks to us, second, that we have truly repented of any sin in our life, and third, that we are not just reading His Word, but that we're doing it as well. Those 3 things are very important because without them, we wind up with a barrier between us and the Lord which makes our prayers ineffective or at the least less effective. Since we most certainly want our prayers to be as powerful as possible, especially for this, it's imperative that we make sure we're doing those things. Keep in mind too that if we are holding any grudge against anyone, that too will make our prayers ineffective so we need to make things right between us and everyone else. (Mark 11:25; Matthew 5:23–24 etc.)
Mainly, I wanted to point out what could be holding our prayers back and keeping them from being effective. It's not at all unusual to discover that we ourselves have been duped by Satan and have fallen into his trap too. Another reason that the Lord is constantly reminding us to "be alert". So we need to pray and remember that while we can't see the battle, that it's fierce, and our prayers can help tremendously, regardless of how things appear. Jesus tells us to be persistent and not to give up, so let's keep praying, knowing that with God on our side, no one, including Satan, can stand against us!
There's a spiritual battle going on around our families. We can't see the actual battle, but it's happening, none the less. Satan will do everything he can to prevent family members from being saved, or if they already are, to prevent them from being effective for Christ. He will do all he can to cause strife and division in our families, to tempt family members to sin, in order to break us and them down and make everyone ineffective for Christ and in our life. Remember, he's out to ruin everything and that's exactly what he's attempting.
There are some things that we or our family members can allow into our life that make the battle even more intense. What are these things? The bible tells us that it's anything involving the occult, such as horoscopes, astrology, tarot cards, psychics, mediums, etc. It's also things that you wouldn't normally associate with demons, such as premarital and extramarital sex, and homosexual relationships, child molestation or pornography. Often people wind up inviting demonic oppression into their life when they get involved in these things. I think we can all see how Satan is pushing all these things in the world today and making them strong temptations for the unwary. But there's yet another group of things that causes the battle to be more intense that most don't realize and that's anger, malice, and bitterness. That's why we're warned so strongly against allowing any bitter root to get started within us. Again, all things that we often see in families that are having problems. Sadly too, the anger and bitterness can wind up rooting in the very one that should be aware of the battle and be praying against it! That happened to me until the Lord made me aware of it, which I explained in my other article, and it happens to many of us. We need to be especially aware of this when we start feeling angry and upset and remember what our Lord taught about forgiveness.
This is what Paul was talking about too in Ephesians 6:10–20 when he warns us to put on the armor of God. We really need to study that and take it to heart for the most important weapon we have in this battle is the weapon of prayer. No, we don't need to "bind Satan" or demons or do any of the other little rituals that the false teachings talk about. What we need to do is pray that the Lord will fight for us and our family and we need to pray that regularly. Best of all would be to pray scripture itself over or family. But the words aren't really that important, because the Lord knows our hearts and He will help us to pray if we ask Him to. We need to keep in mind that what's most important is that every member of our family be reconciled to God first, and then to us and each other. Next, we need to be sure of three things: first that we are spending time daily in His Word, for that's how God renews our minds and hearts and how He speaks to us, second, that we have truly repented of any sin in our life, and third, that we are not just reading His Word, but that we're doing it as well. Those 3 things are very important because without them, we wind up with a barrier between us and the Lord which makes our prayers ineffective or at the least less effective. Since we most certainly want our prayers to be as powerful as possible, especially for this, it's imperative that we make sure we're doing those things. Keep in mind too that if we are holding any grudge against anyone, that too will make our prayers ineffective so we need to make things right between us and everyone else. (Mark 11:25; Matthew 5:23–24 etc.)
Mainly, I wanted to point out what could be holding our prayers back and keeping them from being effective. It's not at all unusual to discover that we ourselves have been duped by Satan and have fallen into his trap too. Another reason that the Lord is constantly reminding us to "be alert". So we need to pray and remember that while we can't see the battle, that it's fierce, and our prayers can help tremendously, regardless of how things appear. Jesus tells us to be persistent and not to give up, so let's keep praying, knowing that with God on our side, no one, including Satan, can stand against us!
!!
