When Your Prayer Life Goes

[PASTOR AUSTIN A ADEWUNMI]

'"...Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation..."' Matthew 26:41

The enemy knows what your God-given potential is, and he's out to stop you
before you reach it. Prayer puts a shield of divine protection around
you; don't live without it! There are hands holding this devotional
that may not be here next year unless somebody prays on their behalf
(Luke 22:31). There are people reading this page who thought that they,
of all people, would never 'blow it,' yet they did. Unless you
acknowledge the propensity to sin that's within you, you won't pray
against it and you'll always be vulnerable to the enemy's attack.
During the last hours of His life Jesus warned His disciples, 'Watch
and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak.' In The Message, Eugene Petersen paraphrases the
words of Christ: 'Stay alert; be in prayer so you don't wander into
temptation without even knowing you're in danger.' Paul writes: '...Put
on every piece of God's armour so you will be able to resist the enemy
in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing
firm...Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion'
(Ephesians 6:13-18 NLT). The most effective weapon the enemy has
against you is you! Your old sin nature must be taken to the cross and
crucified daily. The place of prayer is where you do that. In God's
presence you see yourself as He sees you. There, at the point of
repentance, He reveals, He removes and He restores. When your prayer
life goes, so does your protection. So get busy and reorder your
priorities.