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From David Murray:
Within seconds the wicked whispers start.
“Too short.”
“Too shallow.”
“Too distracted…again.”
“Missed out her, and him, and them…”
“Yawn. Nothing new to say?”
“You call that a prayer?”
“Not enough faith…not enough passion…not enough anything.”
“You don’t actually believe that made a difference, do you?”
“You’ll probably not even think about prayer for the rest of the day”
And on, and on, and on it goes.
Relentless, cruel, malicious Satanic whispers that begin the second I end my morning prayer with, “Amen.”
Anyone else get that? It’s so discouraging, isn’t it. I mean, why pray if all you get at the end of it is an even heavier feeling of guilt and failure? Prayer should be a delight not a dread.
I’d really welcome your own input on this, but here’s how I try to fight back, silence the whispers, and turn prayer into a soul-refreshing delight again.
- God has forgiven me all my sins – even my sinful prayers.
- Jesus is perfecting my prayers and presenting them absolutely flawless to my Heavenly Father.
- My salvation does not depend on my prayers but on Jesus’ prayers.
- My Heavenly Father listens even to the raven’s ugly grating squawks (Ps. 147:9) and gives it food; how much more will he hear and answer the ugly grating squawks of one of His children?
- God delights in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy (Ps 147:9).
- God knows I’m a limited creature who cannot possibly pray for everyone everyday.
- Surely the Devil would simply leave me alone if my prayers were really so pathetic and useless.
- Just because my children don’t (can’t) tell me everything about their lives doesn’t make me love them less, nor does it reflect a lack of love on their part.
- But maybe best of all, “You, Satan, are going to be crushed under my feet shortly” (Rom. 16:2o).
HT: Challies
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