When we pray, Satan plays games with us.
His favorite is spin the mind. Keep the thoughts circling round and round in an unfocused maelstrom of activity so the person praying believes he is too busy to finish.
Then Satan pulls out pin the blame on the donkey. That's when prayer time turns into the blame game. Instead of praying for people, we start accusing them. "If only they would do this..." or "God, tell them to do that..." Instead of confessing our sin, we load our burdens on the pack mules of our lives.
Usually, Satan finishes with a game of lost-and-seek, where we get lost in our thoughts, wandering down empty trails and chasing shadows, then try to find our way back, only to discover the game is over.
Praying isn't a game. In fact, it's serious business - so serious that Satan plays games with our minds to keep us from praying.
Why? Because God tells us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17). He sees church as "a house of prayer" (Matt 21:13). No other activity guarantees such results: "When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action" (Matt 18:19). When people pray, things happen. "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16).
If Satan can stop prayer, he can make Christians ineffective.
The best way to stay focused is to remember the purpose of praying. Give each of these parts of your prayer outline ample time - five to ten minutes. They spell the acronym ACTS.
Adoration - Give God praise.
Confession - Confess your sins (no other people's sins).
Thanksgiving - Show appreciation for all God has given you.
Supplication - Present prayer requests for yourself and others.
No wonder Satan wants to convince us that we are weak, because once a believer finds strength in prayer, the game is over for Satan.
By: Max Lucado
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