He said, In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, “Give me justice against my adversary”. For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, Though I neither fear God or respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Luke 18:2-8
The Power of Prayer
One lie that Satan tries to plant into our minds is that God doesn’t want to be bothered with our problems. There is never a time when God doesn’t await our prayers.
We shouldn’t dwell on our past mistakes and failures. When we are penitent and ask forgiveness, by the forgiving blood of Christ, those sins are no more. Satan tries to use past sins to lead us into despair. In Christ, God has already forgiven and forgotten those sins. Satan tries to undo what God has done in forgiving us.
God knows we need His help, and is waiting to help us. Prayer is the conduit, the means by which we communicate with God.
In the non-Biblical belief of “once saved-always saved” it is falsely believed that once one becomes a Christian they are Satan-proof. The truth is that those who are in Christ are even more popular targets for Satan.
A regular rhythm of worship and prayer will help keep God’s words of forgiveness and peace in us. This helps to keep us from despair that may lead us to give-in to Satan’s attempts to hurt and destroy us. We are empowered through Holy Communion, Confession and Absolution, and the power of the Word in Worship and private devotions. And our Heavenly Father is just a prayer away. As we confess our sins in prayer, the Holy Spirit Himself prays for us, and reminds us of God’s promise of complete and blessed forgiveness through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
