Your longing that Jesus Christ would crush the works of the devil and silence the adversary is itself a testimony that you have felt the weight of that dark power and have looked to the only One who can deliver.
There is great comfort for you in what the Lord has already done. When a soul seemed about to be dragged down to the pit, a voice came from the excellent glory, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom. Nobody would have thought of that way of deliverance if God had not thought of it, but He has found a ransom in His well beloved Son, and He rejoices over that finished work. Upon the cross, when Satan thought he had triumphed, that death was the deathblow to the devil's usurpation. The seed of the woman has bruised the serpent's head, and as surely as God cannot lie, so surely must He who bore our iniquity rise to glorious victory.
Scripture says, He has delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. This is no small mercy, to escape from that master spirit, the destroyer, the prince of the power of the air. Deliverance from the power of sin is as much the work of God as deliverance from the guilt of sin, and sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. When Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, was victorious over the foe, every member of His mystical body, even the most uncomely, was virtually a conqueror in the conquering Head, so that we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
Yet the same Scriptures teach us to pray with sobriety. No screen is set around the godly to protect them from all suffering in this present world. We are not yet living where no fiery dart can reach us. Satan still shoots his arrows, and one of his sharpest is to whisper, Thy God has forsaken thee. Our comfort is not that we shall feel no attack, but that all our ills lie within the fence of omnipotent overruling, and that the Lord has chastened us sorely but has not given us over unto death. To be given over would be the direst sentence, but you, dear child of God, have this comfort, He has not given you over, He is thinking about you, and He has given commandment to save you.
So we do not pray as those who dictate to the Lord how and when He must bind the adversary in every detail, but as those who rest upon His wise and holy government and plead the victory already won at Calvary, looking for its full manifestation when Christ shall come again.
Let us pray together for you now.
O Lord our God, who has found a ransom and has delivered poor sinners from going down to the pit, we bless Thee for Jesus Christ lifted up upon the cross, who drew all men unto Him and broke the power of darkness. We thank Thee that Thou hast delivered us from the power of darkness and hast not given us over unto death. We ask Thee now to keep this Thy servant from the power of the evil one. Silence the mouth of the accuser, restrain the designs of Satan whether direct or indirect, and let no temptation have dominion. Guard heart and mind through Thy dear Son, make this one to live and not die, but to live and declare the works of the Lord. Let the victory of Christ be daily proved in overcoming lesser temptations by the help of Him who overcame the greatest, and keep this soul till that day when every force of evil shall be trampled forever under His feet. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our only hope and ransom. Amen.
