Be On The Alert

As we learn of and pray in accordance with the watchman concept of prayer, two New Testament verses are meaningful. The first is Ephesians 6:18: “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” (emphasis added). The King James Version uses the word “watching” for the phrase “be on the alert.” 

The second verse is 1 Peter 5:8: “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (emphasis added). Again, other translations use the word “watchful.” Significantly, the context of both verses is spiritual warfare. Each mentions our adversary and challenges us to alertness or watchfulness, both for ourselves and our brothers and sisters in Christ. I want to draw four important conclusions from these two verses. 

1. Protection from the attacks of our enemy – even for believers – is not automatic. There is a part we play in receiving protection. Though God is sovereign, this does not mean He is literally in control of everything that happens on earth. He has left much to the decisions and actions of humankind. If God were going to protect or safeguard us from satan’s attacks regardless of what we did, these verses would be totally irrelevant for Christians. Somewhere in our theology, we must find a place for human responsibility. At some point, we must begin to believe that our decisions and actions matter, both for ourselves and for others.
2. God’s plan is to warn or alert us to satan’s tactics. This is a simple deduction. If God says, “be on the alert” for satan’s attacks, He is obviously willing to make us aware of them. God would not ask of us something He was not going to enable us to accomplish.
3. We must be alert – remain watchful – or we will not be aware of God’s attempts to warn us of satan’s attacks and plans. If these attacks were always going to be obvious, alertness would not be necessary. Isaiah 56:10 speaks of “blind watchmen.” What an amazing oxymoron! I am afraid it has been a fairly good description of many of us in our watching roles. We are too often like Christ’s disciples of old, whom He said had eyes but at times couldn’t see (see Mark 8:18). We must do more than glance; we must alertly watch!
4. If we are not alert and watchful, and if we are ignorant of satan’s attacks, he will devour. As yesterday’s post stated, he will gain on us, taking advantage of our ignorance. Contrary to popular belief, we really can be destroyed due to ignorance or a lack of knowledge (see Hosea 4:6). We don’t like to admit it, but satan really has gained a lot of territory in America.

Satan and demons are real. They seek to oppress, deceive, steal, kill and destroy. We must not deny the reality of, or ignore, spiritual conflict. Obviously, we are not to be preoccupied with satan; but neither are we to live in denial of him. The results of both can be disastrous.

Don’t be like the desert nomad who awakened hungrily one night and decided he’d have a midnight snack. Lighting a candle, he grabbed a date and took a bite. Holding the date to the candle, he saw a worm, whereupon he threw the date out of the tent. Biting into the second date, he found another worm and threw it away, also. Deciding he might not get anything to eat if this continued, he blew out the candle and ate the dates. 

Sometimes we, too, prefer the darkness of denial to the light of truth. Though the truth does hurt at times, it is still truth. Denial does not change it. Where satan has made gains, let’s admit it and determine to take them back! 

“Remember to stay alert and hold firmly to all that you believe. Be mighty and full of courage”  (1 Corinthians 16:13 TPT).

Pray with me:

Father, we are not in denial. We realize satan has made great gains in America. He has taken much ground and infiltrated pretty much every segment of our culture. He and his allies have programmed the minds of a generation. They have eroded hunger for You, even convincing many that You do not exist. And, as always, he thinks he has won.

He has not! You have the power to awaken. Your spirit of revelation can peel back the covering that blinds the minds of unbelievers, causing them to see clearly who Jesus really is. Like the 3000 saved on the day of Pentecost, and the 5000 born again when the lame man at the gate called Beautiful was healed, You can lift the veil, open spiritually blind eyes and cause people to finally see You. Our prayers are creating and releasing this revelation. The appeal is working.

As You instructed us, we command Your Kingdom rule to invade America – we say, Kingdom come! We command Your will to be done (Matthew 6:10), we decree that no government will stop this. No corruption in government will prevail, all deception and corruption will be exposed. Pride will be exposed. Dishonest motives will be exposed. And You will be shown to be King and Lord – You, the Creator and Savior of America.

You are coming, and will not be stopped! We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Let’s decree together:

We Decree that wave after wave of revival, a deluge of Holy Spirit outpouring, is coming to America – AND IT WILL NOT BE STOPPED!

Portions of today’s post were taken from my book Watchman Prayer.