Never Stop Praying (Part 2)

“And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, ‘God is tempting me.’ God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.” (James 1:13-15 NLT)

Perhaps the single most important “prompt” to never stop praying is temptation. While temptation in and of itself is not sin, it quickly leads to sin if not kept in check. Charles Spurgeon wrote: “Since you are tempted without ceasing, pray without ceasing.“

When my wife and I first met I literally wanted to be with her every waking second. We both worked, so, it put a cramp in my “full-time” desires to be with her, but she was always on my mind. We don’t usually think of thinking about someone as “prayer,” but that’s essentially what it is. The focus of our thoughts guides our life. We are the products of our thoughts.

What we think about comes about, so, if Jesus is at the center of our thoughts, our every desire, ideally, is to please Him, honor Him, share Him, (all I could talk about was Kathy when we were dating), and be with Him. The plot thickens because, at least for now, He’s invisible to us, so we can only “speak” to Him by a “spiritual” phone we often refer to as prayer.

Kathy and I would spend hours on the phone, sometimes literally falling asleep while trying to carry on a conversation. Similarly, sin, at least in the beginning stages of our relationship with the Lord, is our constant companion. We can’t expect Satan to sit back and do nothing as we seek to walk faithfully with Jesus, but the longer we walk with Him, on many levels, temptation loses its attraction.

As when Kath and I were dating she was always on my mind, so, when our love for Jesus begins to blossom, He’s constantly on our mind. We often have this “honeymoon” experience with the Lord, and we’re tempted to believe: “Whoa, this is going to be a breeze!”

Then reality sets in and Satan begins to draw more and more of our attention. “That new secretary at work is a babe!” Or “That new guy in the apartment near me is a looker!” Or we pass by the car dealership, shoe store, or __________ and think: “I deserve that! (whatever “that” looks like for you). The point is Satan’s goal is to turn your thoughts from Jesus back to him, and his primary means of doing that is the person looking back at you from the mirror.

Before we met Jesus, we were the center of our own universe, then after we found in Him everything we’d ever hoped He would be, Satan begins to draw our thoughts back to the “freedoms” we had before all of those “Biblical restrictions.” What we too quickly forget is the bondage in which those “freedoms” had us. We so foolishly believe: “Oh, I can quit ‘this’ (whatever has you in its devilish grasp) anytime I want to!” Yeh, and I can walk on water or fly to the moon without assistance.

Over time it gets easier to not only have ongoing conversations with the Lord, but long for them, depend on them as a drowning man clings to his life preserver. In this season of my life, Jesus is nearly always on my mind. In every circumstance, every conversation, every task, every aspect of my life I’m realizing that He IS my all-in-all, and that’s the way I want it.

How about you? Are you there yet? If not, keep focusing on Him, because over time Satan will lose His grip on you. That’s our goal. That’s why we never stop praying.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Blessings, Ed 😊