“Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet tall! He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds. He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds. His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield.” (1 Samuel 17:4-7 NLT)
How do you spell “formidable opponent?” Yet David, just a teenager, went to frightened King Saul and said: “Don’t worry about this Philistine…I’ll go fight him!” While the whole Israeli army was shaking in their boots, this young man who’d never faced another man in battle was ready to face this giant with a sling and a few stones. What made the difference?
Why was David unafraid while the whole army was paralyzed with fear? The simple answer is, his “walkie talkie” was connected to the God of heaven. While the soldiers of Israel were all focused on the size of their opponents, David was focused on the size of his God.
John Piper clarifies this when he writes: “Prayer is a war-time walkie-talkie, not a domestic intercom for ringing up the butler to change the thermostat. It is a war-time walkie-talkie to call in firepower because the enemy is greater than we are. If you try to turn this into a domestic intercom to bring another pillow, it malfunctions, and you wonder why. It’s not made to be an intercom. It’s made to be a war-time walkie-talkie.”
How do you view prayer? Where is your focus as you face the enemies of your life? Your soul? Sin becomes an insurmountable obstacle when we lose sight of how big our God is. Rather than “I can’t” being swallowed with “He can!” we give in to Satan’s attacks without a fight. Temptation comes and we cower like a whimpering child, giving in to our lustful desires with the end result, we’re weak and ineffective, not only in our personal disciplines, but in our witness.
How much strength is in my testimony to a person struggling with difficult circumstances and huge life problems when my testimony is: “I can’t stand up to temptation and Satan is beating me on every level of my life, but come to Jesus!” Too many don’t really want to walk in obedience and submission to Christ’s authority, they just don’t want to go to hell.
News flash! Saying a prayer doesn’t change our eternal destination unless and until we take it seriously enough to grow a spiritual spine and stand up to the devil. When our confidence in God is greater than our confidence in ourselves, we’ll begin to see victory over Satan and his devilish emissaries. Temptation becomes an avenue of victory and celebration when our focus is on our Savior and our “walkie talkie” is tuned to His holy ear.
By God’s grace and in His strength we, as His children, His Saints, can boldly stand our ground, defeating the enemy of our soul and walking in victory over temptation in whatever form it may come. Is it easy? Do we always win? Admittedly, it’s a process that gets easier over time. The devil is powerful, but he’s also predictable. While he comes at us in the same ways, the problem is, those are the areas of our greatest weakness.
The only way to positively and powerfully become victorious, to move from “whiner” to “winner,” is through faith-filled, believing prayer. What channel is your wartime “walkie-talkie” tuned to?
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 