A Reason to Pray

Recently I was reading Nancy Stafford’s “Beauty by the Book.” She pointed out something I hadn’t thought of. Words associated with Christ often start with the prefix re- as in renew, refresh, restore, resurrection. Words associated with Satan, however, often start with either de- or dis- Destroy, discourage, disappoint, despair, depression. Re- means to bring back to the original state. Even though as a root word de means “of” as in desire-of the Father; as a prefix de- or dis- means away from, down, or separation or negation, which pretty much describes Satan.

Of course you know this to be true in your own experience. When you’re with Christ, you feel a sense of rebirth and rejuvenation of your soul. When you’re hanging with the devil, there’s a lot of disease, disappointment, disillusionment, distrust, despair. You know the signs when the devil is working on you. Now you can let that disempower you-as he is trying to do. In fact, Ms. Stafford sums up Satan’s agenda in one very powerful sentence. “His sole purpose is to isolate and destroy us, either emotionally or physically.” That’s about as succinct a goal statement for Satan as I’ve ever read. Isolate and destroy. And I’m quite sure you know how that feels.

So, like I said, you can use the knowledge that Satan is working to destroy you as a reason to give up, quit, surrender, and let him take you down. Or, you can recognize what’s going on and use it as a reminder to fight back.

Now you and I both know that Satan is a wily little booger who will use our greatest weaknesses to crack us in two-or several hundred pieces. We also know that on our own fighting him, we are sunk. That’s why at some point in the past we accepted Christ’s work on the cross on our behalf so that Satan no longer can lay claim to our lives.

Great and good.

But what about when it feels like Satan is winning in the here and now? What about when he uses those bills we haven’t paid to tell us that we are worthless dust, unworthy of God’s love much less His help?

What about when Satan throws our past sins up in our face? “Yeah, you think you are so holy, but what about when you…?” From personal experience, he’s good at this. He knows what we most fear. He knows what angers we harbor deep inside. He knows what we haven’t forgiven, and he uses these things to eat away at us, pecking at us like chickens do a disabled chicken until it dies.

Finally, after many years of searching, I have found a weapon that combats Satan right where he’s working. It’s effective. It’s easy. And best of all, it gets quick results.

It’s remembering this phrase, “This is a reason to pray.”

God drives Satan insane. In fact, Satan cannot be where God is. Better, Satan doesn’t want to be where God is.

A friend of mine was having financial trouble. She had creditors calling who did not have a claim on the payment they were requesting, but that didn’t stop them from calling-every day. At home, at work, on her cell phone. Despite getting solid legal advice that she did not owe this money, they kept calling. The situation was sending her into panic attacks and had anxiety wrapped over her like a wet blanket.

When she finally told me what was going on, as we talked, the Holy Spirit whispered the answer to me. “Tell her to use this as a reason to pray.” Not in general terms, like at night saying, “Please, God. Take this away.” But directly.

As crazy as this is going to sound, I have now seen the following work miracles not just in this situation but in others. When the thoughts come (or the creditor call comes in, or the angry co-worker shows up, or the ex-husband calls), in your spirit say, “Oh, thanks Satan. You’re right. I need to pray about this. Bless you for reminding me… Thank You, God, for being in my life and for showing me Your best way to handle this. Be with me Holy Spirit. I give this situation to You. You are the most awesome friend I have! Thanks.”

Let me tell you. Satan does NOT want to be the reason you remember God. Remember the dis- words mean separation, away from, negation. He wants to separate you from God, to negate the good God is doing in the world. It drives Satan crazy to be the reminder that God is present and all you have to do is put the situation in God’s hands to handle. And it’s become very clear to me that Satan will pull up stakes and RUN from a situation where you do this.

You can even get more specific in the salutation you use for the minions Satan has sent to torment you. “Oh, fear, thanks. You’re right. I need to pray about this. Bless you for reminding me.”

Oh! I can hear the demons cartwheeling away from the situation even as I write. They have no power where God is, and an aside, they hate to be blessed! It’s quite fun actually because you are learning to spread love even to your enemies. You will feel better and more at peace before you ever even get to the point of beginning to handle whatever is going on.

“Oh, thanks, Satan. You’re right I need to pray about this. Bless you for reminding me.”

Use Satan as your reason to pray, and in no time, he won’t be lurking around your doorstep. Try it. You’ll see what I mean.