Supplication in the Spirit

II. WE MUST, THEREFORE, GUARD AGAINST THE ENEMYS ATTACKS ON PRAYER

Guard it as an army would guard its ammunition dump. 

1. Satan is the great enemy of prayer. 

He will employ a number of ploys to stop you praying.

a]. He will say that we have no need to pray. 

This is the temptation that defeated Samson. And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off, I Kings 20:11. 

b]. He will tell us we have no time to pray. 

He will press upon us the demands of our activities and duties in this world. Or else he will suggest that it is better we leave off praying to a more suitable time when we have a better mind to pray.

c]. He will tell us we have no ability to pray. 

In this he promotes a form of false modesty. Prayer is the Christian’s native air. 

2. Such temptations as these must be resisted. 

a]. It is sin to be too busy to pray. 

I Kings 20:40 — we may be too busy and so leave our highest duty undone. Let us be as Mary — She went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him, John 11:28-29. In prayer we answer the call of the Saviour. Song/Solomon 5:2-7.

b]. We must ever remember the value of prayer. 

For the harvester to stop and sharpen his scythe is no waste of time. He will suffer no loss. But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint, Isaiah 40:31.

c]. The more we strive to maintain prayer the more we honour God. 

They who will give up all before they will give up prayer are of the spirit of those we read of in Rev 12:11 11 they loved not their lives unto the death. We honour God by declaring that His grace is utterly indispensable in our lives. We must have His blessing and for that we must pray.