Let me get right to the point: the devil wants to hinder your worship of God this weekend, so he will work to distract and deceive you. Even before we get to worship this weekend, he wants us to:*
- Mess up in sin. If he can deceive us and then lead us to hide like Adam and Eve did (Gen. 3:8), he’s at least temporarily won. Sin harms our relationship with God, blocks our prayer, and robs us of joy. The enemy delights in the sinful secrets of our lives.
- Give up the fight. Perhaps you hear his voice today: “Why should you keep following a God who’s letting these things happen to you? Why not just give up?” Job heard similar words from his own grieving wife when their world fell apart (Job 2:9), but still he worshiped God (Job 1:20, 2:10).
- Get puffed up with pride. This problem is at the core of the rest of these problems (Prov. 16:18). We make ourselves our own God, set our own rules, and walk our own path. Then, we also think we can handle our spiritual battles. All of these are nothing less than idolatry of the self.
- Shut up rather than tell the gospel. God has given us one plan to reach our neighbors and the nations: believers are to tell the gospel and make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20, Rom. 10:9-17). If we never get around to proclaiming the good news, a lost world remains in the enemy’s kingdom.
- Split up our relationships. This strategy is hardly new. The enemy enticed Adam to turn on Eve in the Garden of Eden (blaming her for their sin in Gen. 3:12), and he then turned brother against brother in Genesis 4:1-16. It’s no wonder Jesus prayed so many times that His followers would be one (John 17).
Where is the enemy winning in your life? In the life of your church? Let us know in the comments section how we might pray for you and your church family as you prepare for worship this weekend.
This post originally appeared at ChuckLawless.com
