Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects a true understanding of how the enemy works and how God protects and keeps His own. It is right to bring this person before the Lord in this way.
God does have a calling and a purpose for those who belong to Him. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ we are redeemed and adopted as sons, and as sons we become heirs of the promises God has given. We do not relate to God by trying to keep a law to earn His favor, but through the promises He has given us which we receive by faith. It is that faith in Christ that brings us into the blessing of God. And the calling of God is also the equipping of God. What He purposes to do, He is faithful to do as He works in the heart by His Spirit. His work will not fail.
At the same time Scripture is clear that temptation to do evil never comes from God. God cannot be tempted with evil and He does not tempt anyone in that way. Temptation is a solicitation to evil and it almost always carries the same lie that was spoken to Eve and even to Jesus in the wilderness. It suggests that God is restricting you, holding you back from something good, and that you can have immediate fulfillment if you will just turn aside from the patient path God has set before you. That is the nature of a counterfeit. It looks like a gift but it is not from above. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or shadow of turning. The enemy sends counterfeits that promise joy but bring misery, because God has given the rules by which real joy is found. When we defy those rules we do not find freedom, we find sorrow.
That is why the prayer to have strength to flee is so biblical. Victory is not found in trying harder in the flesh, but in being delivered by the Spirit through the cross of Jesus Christ. We are delivered from the old way so that we may serve God in newness of spirit, with a new heart that desires God and His best. The desire to flee is itself a work of the Spirit, and God will give the power to do it. To remain under His protection we must keep our relationship with Him at the center. When that relationship is right, other relationships tend to come into balance. When it is not, we are easily drawn away after other loves and interests, but God is jealous for the whole heart of His children.
You can pray with confidence that God is the defense of His people. Truly our soul waits upon God, for from Him comes salvation. Power belongs to God and mercy belongs to God. Like David who sought God early while fleeing through that barren wilderness, we can trust God to preserve our lives from the fear of the enemy and to strike down the schemes set against us. The plots of the enemy will fail because God Himself defends those who trust in Him and He will render to each according to His perfect justice and mercy.
So continue to pray that this person will keep God at the center, will walk by faith in Christ, will recognize the difference between the Father's good gifts and the enemy's counterfeits, and will have grace by the Spirit to turn away quickly from any tempting person or situation. Pray that God's plan will prevail, that this life will bear fruit unto God, and that every evil plot will come to nothing as God keeps and establishes His own for His purposes.
Father, in the name of Jesus we bring this dear one before You. You know the calling You have placed on this life. We ask that You would guard this person from entanglement with the wrong people and from every distraction and counterfeit the enemy would send to destroy destiny. Give grace to recognize temptation for what it is and strength by Your Holy Spirit to flee from it. Keep this life under Your protection, at the center of Your will, walking in fellowship with You. Let Your good and perfect gifts be received with joy, and let every scheme of the enemy fail. We trust You to defend, to keep, and to fulfill Your purpose, for power and mercy belong to You. Amen.
God does have a calling and a purpose for those who belong to Him. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ we are redeemed and adopted as sons, and as sons we become heirs of the promises God has given. We do not relate to God by trying to keep a law to earn His favor, but through the promises He has given us which we receive by faith. It is that faith in Christ that brings us into the blessing of God. And the calling of God is also the equipping of God. What He purposes to do, He is faithful to do as He works in the heart by His Spirit. His work will not fail.
At the same time Scripture is clear that temptation to do evil never comes from God. God cannot be tempted with evil and He does not tempt anyone in that way. Temptation is a solicitation to evil and it almost always carries the same lie that was spoken to Eve and even to Jesus in the wilderness. It suggests that God is restricting you, holding you back from something good, and that you can have immediate fulfillment if you will just turn aside from the patient path God has set before you. That is the nature of a counterfeit. It looks like a gift but it is not from above. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or shadow of turning. The enemy sends counterfeits that promise joy but bring misery, because God has given the rules by which real joy is found. When we defy those rules we do not find freedom, we find sorrow.
That is why the prayer to have strength to flee is so biblical. Victory is not found in trying harder in the flesh, but in being delivered by the Spirit through the cross of Jesus Christ. We are delivered from the old way so that we may serve God in newness of spirit, with a new heart that desires God and His best. The desire to flee is itself a work of the Spirit, and God will give the power to do it. To remain under His protection we must keep our relationship with Him at the center. When that relationship is right, other relationships tend to come into balance. When it is not, we are easily drawn away after other loves and interests, but God is jealous for the whole heart of His children.
You can pray with confidence that God is the defense of His people. Truly our soul waits upon God, for from Him comes salvation. Power belongs to God and mercy belongs to God. Like David who sought God early while fleeing through that barren wilderness, we can trust God to preserve our lives from the fear of the enemy and to strike down the schemes set against us. The plots of the enemy will fail because God Himself defends those who trust in Him and He will render to each according to His perfect justice and mercy.
So continue to pray that this person will keep God at the center, will walk by faith in Christ, will recognize the difference between the Father's good gifts and the enemy's counterfeits, and will have grace by the Spirit to turn away quickly from any tempting person or situation. Pray that God's plan will prevail, that this life will bear fruit unto God, and that every evil plot will come to nothing as God keeps and establishes His own for His purposes.
Father, in the name of Jesus we bring this dear one before You. You know the calling You have placed on this life. We ask that You would guard this person from entanglement with the wrong people and from every distraction and counterfeit the enemy would send to destroy destiny. Give grace to recognize temptation for what it is and strength by Your Holy Spirit to flee from it. Keep this life under Your protection, at the center of Your will, walking in fellowship with You. Let Your good and perfect gifts be received with joy, and let every scheme of the enemy fail. We trust You to defend, to keep, and to fulfill Your purpose, for power and mercy belong to You. Amen.
