The devil doesn’t want you in the octagon …

I’ve said many times that Christians have an enemy as dedicated to their destruction as God is committed to their salvation. There is a war being waged, a spiritual one, but it may not be the glorious kind of battle you might imagine.

The devil doesn’t want you in the octagon, where he could pound the life out of you quickly. Instead, he often seeks your destruction through “death by a thousand cuts” …

… get you in a rush in the morning …

… stir a little road rage on the way to work …

… mix in some misery working for an unrelenting boss …

… expose you to temptation among coworkers …

… pile on financial burdens …

… toss in a couple of unruly children …

… add in an unsatisfied spouse …

… then do it all again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and the next, and the next …

… and he gets you.

Death by a thousand cuts.

It’s no wonder, then, that the Apostle Paul gives us this concise exhortation: “Never stop praying” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

If we pray as these things pop up, and continue to pray through them, we’re cooperating with God to overcome the poison the enemy is trying to place in them. Constancy of prayer allows God to heal as fast as the enemy attempts to hurt.

But bottling up the punches of the enemy only creates a spiritual time bomb that will eventually explode, often with irrational anger and accusation at God, followed by a collapse of faith.

Are you praying your way through your days? Or are you trying to tough it out, all the while loading yourself down with wounds from the enemy?

Scotty