The Bible clearly tells us who our enemy is and that he is prowling looking for someone to devour. Many believers spend their time asking God to give them things, complaining about unwanted circumstances or flirting with the world to get some comforts… in the meantime, the enemy is attacking their finances, their jobs, their family, their relationships, their well-being and whatever he finds without protection in their lives.
Look at this: Jesus had been announcing the great events of His life on earth to the disciples and the time had come. He went to pray and left His disciples for a while. The Bible says: “Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:40-41)… The following verse says: “He went away a second time and prayed” (Matthew 26:42) But look at what happened: “When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting?” (Matthew 26:43-45).
My brother, my sister, the choice is yours: you can choose to continue crying out to God about the same thing… after all Jesus also prayed to God repeatedly ‘saying the same thing’. However, He had not gone through the Cross yet. So know that some of your battles are for you to fight in prayer… God can fight unexpected danger that is coming against you, but you yourself have to fight against temptation with total confidence that God has already ensured that, through the Cross, you come victorious from your fight anyway.
My friend, we are fighting to get back things that the devil has stolen from us, to restore things he has already broken and revive things he has killed. So, are you going to continue sleeping and turning to God to give you a victory that you already have? To see your victory materialise, stop sleeping because while you are sleeping, the devil is roaming around your life, your possessions, your family, your health. Through Jesus and with Jesus you have overcome Satan, but why are you feeling dominated and not having dominion as granted to you from Genesis? A great part of the answer is here: “I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man” (Proverbs 24:32-34). Stop sleeping SPIRITUALLY or depending on other people’s prayer for you (Jesus did not ask the disciples to pray for Him… He left them and went to pray, hoping they too will pray, but He found them asleep! No wonder that in front of the adversity Peter denied Him (he had no spiritual strength to fight against the temptation to save his own life) and the others ran away. My friend pray, pray and pray… pray at least as much as you spend time on your phone or on social media doing useless things, as much as you cry or complain, as much as you gossip or slander… Then your life and circumstances will change: prayer is the greatest tool to get rid of temptation and push back the enemy out of your territory. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.