Struggle
I woke up early in the morning. I knew God had awakened me for the purpose of prayer, but I was really tired. To tell you the truth, I was irritated that my husband was lying next to me coughing horribly - he had been sick with the flu. I could feel my chest starting to take on his sickness and I was not in the right frame of mind to pray, but I did. Right there in my bed.
I was not happy with my attitude towards my husband and had started thinking about everything that was going on in my head. My mind was in a vicious cycle and I was becoming upset with myself. My feet had not yet touched the floor and Satan was already trying to get me off track! He did not want me to pray that morning.
There was nothing wrong with my body but it felt good to just lay there. I did not want to get out of bed and continued to pray in my heart. While praying, I remembered I had made a decision to acknowledge God in my laziness. I tried to reason with myself that I was not feeling that good, so it was okay to be lazy just this once. But I knew in my heart it was not the truth. At some point during that battle in my mind, I got up out of bed and went to my prayer room.
Before I could open the door to my prayer room I heard a song in my heart and began to worship God. At first it seemed that worship was a struggle but I heard myself say “Thank you God for the struggle in worship because you are working something out in me.” I began to thank God for every trouble - for laziness and for every thought that was taking me down. While in worship, I found myself being lifted up. I began praising God as I thanked Him for my sorrows and troubles because He reminded me that it was all for my good. Needless to say my prayer time went on much longer than I had planned but I was grateful to be in God’s presence. I felt so much better and uplifted when I finished.
Satan meets us first thing in the morning. Before we can even get our thoughts together he has already pounced! As a believer we have to push past everything that Satan throws at us. We must remember that what Jesus did for us did not feel good to Him at all. He was given thirty-nine lashes, ripping His skin from His body. He had a crown of thorns pressed down into His head and nails hammered in His hands and feet. He hung on the cross, and His side was pierced with a spear. All this and much more was done so our sins could be washed away. It took all of this so we could have everlasting life. Family, how dare we not move. How dare we try and serve God in our laziness. Salvation costs, and so does intimacy with God.
We cannot afford to let Satan lie to us that it is okay to not give God our best when God gave us His all. Satan’s goal is to take us down to destroy God’s kingdom. When we don’t give God our best we are living a lukewarm Christianity. We all know what happens when we become lukewarm: “So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelations 3:16, ESV). Let’s stay encouraged and faithful even in the midst of our struggles.
Father,
Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for us. Please forgive us for the areas in our lives where we have not given you our best. Our desire is to please you in every way. We pray for strength to beat back the enemy so we can walk in complete fullness of you. We never want to be in danger of getting lukewarm. Thank you for answering our prayer. In Jesus’ name, Amen
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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