WHEN YOU RESIST THE DEVIL HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU
Last Sunday, I wrote about finding ways to show your love for the Lord. I gave examples of showing your love in private and personal ways, and then I told you some of the ways that I had chosen to outwardly make my love for the Lord know to others. I also mentioned how the enemy will try to stop you from putting the Lord front and center, and how he will whisper lies in your ear to make you second-guess yourself.
One of the areas that I struggle with the most is how to be consistent in my morning devotional and prayers. I say small prayers all through the day of thanksgiving, but I am talking about longer and more intimate prayers with the Lord. I long for peaceful mornings curled up with the Lord and a cup of coffee where I can come to Him with thanksgiving and praise. Somehow, that never seems to happen, and instead, I find myself caught up in things that aren’t important.
I read a devotional a couple of weeks ago where this person was struggling with this same issue. She mentioned that she found herself able to concentrate when she started writing down her prayers. Eureka! Talk about your light bulb moment!!!
Years ago, a very sweet blog reader/friend, sent me a Christmas present that was a journal called Write The Word. In this journal were two pages for each day. The first page was for writing down a Bible verse, and the second page was for your thoughts and prayers. I had finished the devotional and liked it so much that I ordered another one. When that one was finished, I started something else and got out of the habit of writing down my prayers.
I knew that I wanted to get back into this habit, so I immediately started searching the internet for those books. I found that there were several more versions that have now been published, so I ordered SIX more of these books. Now, each morning when I get up, I open one of the books up and do my Bible verse and write down my daily prayers.
I was so happy to start back with this routine, and each morning I would wake up excited to turn the page for the next verse. Then, I started to notice that I was getting more and more interruptions. As soon as I would open the book to start my time with the Lord, the phone would ring. Sometimes, the dog would suddenly need to be fed, let outside, or decided that it was time to be let back inside. I almost laughed out loud the morning that I opened the book, started writing, and then heard Joe open the bedroom door and come walking into the room.
I had finally started to notice that the enemy was trying, and was sometimes successful, to distract me from being with the Lord. Once I started noticing the distractions, it became easier to get back to the Lord and say, “not today satan, I know what you are doing.”
The enemy is sly and he uses distractions to his advantage. He also uses hunger, sleep, friends, and family members, and anything else that he can think of to draw us away from the Lord.
1 Peter 5:8
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
The devil is all around and he is never satisfied. He is always looking for his next victim and gets pleasure when he can distract you from the Lord. But, once you catch on to his ways, you can call him out and tell him to hit the road.
James 4:7
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Resist the devil and he will flee. This is so comforting to know! This verse actually says the devil will FLEE, which means that he will run away from you. Now, this is something that makes me happy and makes me smile from ear to ear. From now on, if I catch the devil trying to pull one of his sly tricks on me, I am going to call him out, tell him to hit the road, and then smile as I envision him fleeing from me. Thank you, Lord, for protecting and watching over me when the devil is prowling around.
To God Goes The Glory!
Have A Blessed Day!
This is a great idea! I love to journal when the Lord shows me something but I need to increase my prayer time too. Thank you Tania!
Oh Tania, I know you won’t see this because I’m reading it a day late, but it was fabulous! Thank you SO much for being bold for Jesus! You are on fire!
I saw it, Charlcy!!! Thanks for commenting and a day late is just fine with me. Lol!
Thanks for the prayer journal link! Always love the Sunday devotions!
You are welcome, Lori. Sundays are special to me.
Tania, every day I look forward to your blog. I love having this time with you each day. It’s like visiting with an old friend.Ifriend.I especially enjoy the Sunday sermons and your loving testimony of our Lord. May God always bless you and yours.
Thank you-great idea for prayer/devotional. Peace!
Thank you for another great message. You are so right. I’ve always said my main prayers after I get in bed at night, with quick messages throughout the day. Sure enough: as soon as I pull up the sheets, I get TERRIBLY sleeping, or distracting thoughts enter my mind. I wake up later, knowing I hadn’t prayed. So I just send my thoughts, problems, and thanks to God at 3 in the morning! I am weak, but He is strong.
Tania! Thank you so much for this post! So timely! Covid and its isolating effects have challenged my time with God. An interactive Prayer Journal is a wonderful idea! Be sure and send another quick email with the link. Amazon has a lot of good choices! Thanks, again! Have a wonderful Sunday!
This is a fantastic message today. I too have trouble keeping focused in the morning, so I think I’ll try the Write the Word books. Great idea!
Thank you Tania!
This is exactly for me today! I am in the same boat and tomorrow I will start my journaling 🙏 thank you so much😉
I have the same issues! I have special prayer requests written on a paper next to where I sit and have my coffee every morning mainly because I can’t remember squat. I love the journal idea.
That is a great idea, Jan. I forget things like that too, so this is very helpful.
While I am not particularly religious I do appreciate your Sunday blogs. You present food for thought. Thank you.
Thanks, Stephanie. I am glad that you appreciate the Sunday messages.
Always look forward to your Sunday devotionals.❤️
Thanks, Patti!
Love this post! It really paints a picture that the devil really does try to get in the way! I never thought about those interruptions and excuses being the devil!!! I will be more aware and I will love watching the devil run away as I pray!!!
He just got in the way of one of my prayers this morning, but I laughed because I recognized what was happening, and went right back to my prayer.
Tania – I can’t help but love you and your blog. You really have a beautiful heart and it is so obvious that your heart is in tune with the holy spirit. I am reminded of the scripture that says -Seek first the kingdom and all these things will be added unto you. I think that’s what your life reflects.
Please share a link for the devotionals you were talking about.
Thank you for your devotion to your readers –
Marilyn
Marilyn, I put the link for the devotionals on the blog now. But, here it is for you:
https://shopstyle.it/l/bofxY
Thank you so much for sharing. I added that journal to my Amazon wish list for Christmas. Can’t wait to get my hands on one!
I’m so glad that you are wanting to do this journal. 😊
Wonderful – love the idea of writing it down! Satan flee from me and give me my time with the Lord!
Writing it down keeps my squirrel brain focused. I love the idea of the devil fleeing also. 😊
Can you share the devotionals that you can write in with us?
Yes, I’m sorry that I didn’t link to the journals. I’ll go in and fix that, but here is the link for you.
https://shopstyle.it/l/bofxY
Haha you know who made you omit the link. The enemy knows when he’s being threatened! Thinking this is a great idea. I have a hard time with writing these days – stiff fingers and aching. It may actually help to do it more.