Several years ago I was flipping through the channels on the television while relaxing one afternoon. I came to a block of Christian channels. The satellite company I used grouped all of the Christian channels together. There were several channels that featured different authors, speakers, pastors and evangelists. I came to one channel and the program was that of a well known pastor who has authored several different books, whose name you would probably know if I mentioned it. Of course I already knew that I had much theological disagreement with this particular teacher but I paused for a moment just to see what his subject was. What transpired really caught me off guard and exposed me to something that I have noticed becoming more and more prominent among Christian people. When I tuned the television to the station he was on he was right in the middle of praying. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with his prayer. In fact he prayed for many of the things that I often prayed for before I preach the Word of God. He prayed for wisdom, for God's power and strength. He prayed for the anointing of the Holy Spirit and he prayed for his congregation's ears to be open and hearts receptive to the Word of God. But then, he did something that I found very strange: right in the middle of his praying, he began to talking to Satan. I was a bit surprised and my mind began to flood with questions: why is he talking to Satan? In praying to God why would he divert his attention to the Devil? What purpose does this serve? Well, I soon changed the channel and went on with the rest of my day and attributed this to another misunderstanding of Scripture that I perceived this particular preacher possessed. Since then, however, I have noticed more and more believers doing this very same thing.
I've always firmly believed in prayer. I believe that many Christians miss out on much of what the Lord has for them because they fail to engage the Lord in prayer. James 4: 2 says, "... you do not have because you do not ask..." As a pastor I often counsel with people. Many times I am told something like this: "Pastor, I just feel so distant from the Lord. I feel like God isn't there. My relationship with God is not where it should be." When I hear statements like this I often ask several diagnostic questions and one of those inquiries is: tell me about your prayer life. More often than not the person who makes statements like these has a prayer life that is virtually non-existent. So, let's be clear: prayer is vital to your Christian walk. Prayer is as necessary as breath. If we're to live physically we must breathe. If we're to live spiritually we must pray. And so, I offer this paragraph as my disclaimer of strong conviction on the necessity of a faithful and fervent prayer life for the Christian believer.
Now, on to the issue at hand... I would ask why would anyone begin to address Satan while praying? There are no Biblical examples for such a practice. We find that Jesus addresses Satan in Matthew 4 but this was not a part of His prayer time. Satan approached Jesus with temptation, to which the Lord responded with the Word of God. Peter, Paul, James, Jude or any other New Testament writer for that matter, in none of these men do we ever find them addressing Satan in prayer, much less teaching that believers should ever do so. Then of course, there is the matter that Satan, though very sly, cunning and deceptive, is nothing like the God of the Bible. The Devil is not all-powerful, he is not all-knowing and he is not omni-present, which is to say that Satan is not and can not be present every where at the same time. You see, the Lord is present with me in the person of the Holy Spirit, just as He present with every other believer on planet earth. The Lord can manifest His presence in a church service where I pastor, while at the same time He can manifest His presence in a service at the church down the street, and in a church in an neighboring state, even in a different country. God is omni-present... He can be everywhere all the time, but Satan is and can do none of these things. The Devil's knowledge is limited, his power is limited and his presence is limited. Knowing this, why would anyone waste their time or breath in speaking to Satan in prayer? More than likely he isn't even there and certainly doesn't hear their prayers. Really, if you stop and think about it this is a pride issue. There are about one billion people on the earth who profess to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, granted, all of those professions may not be genuine, but, even still, given the fact that Satan can only be in place at one time, what is the realistic possibility of Satan coming against you personally. Consider if there were only one million believers on the earth. If Satan were to personally attack each one for one day, one day at a time it would take him 2,739.73 years to attack each believer for one day; and that is based on there only being one million believers on the earth. Of course we know there to be more than one million believers on the earth. We also know that Satan has and does influence the kingdoms or powers of this world. 2 Corinthians 4: 4 refers to the Devil as "the god of this world." So the figures I have mentioned would not even account for Satan's work in the lives of those who are lost. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not minimizing the work of the enemy, all that I'm saying is that Satan can't attacking you and someone in India at the same time. He can't be in two places at once.
So, why talk to Satan in prayer? Prayer is not meant for Satan and has nothing to do with him, other than seeking God's protection from him and wisdom in response to him. Prayer is ordained for communing with the holy God of the Bible, not Satan. One day the disciples of the Lord ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. And in Luke 11 the Lord taught them about prayer. We often call it the model prayer, for in His teaching Jesus modelled how and what we should pray. He said, "... When you pray, say, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one..." (vs. 2-4). Notice, that in response to the direct request to be taught to pray, Jesus models prayer and in His teaching there is no place given for addressing Satan. The prayer is to God. God alone is to whom we pray! Now, in His teaching on prayer Jesus models asking God for protection from Satan, but again, this request is made to the Lord and protection from Satan is the subject, but he isn't the addressee. Prayer is where and when we seek God; its when we cry out to Him; its when we cast our cares upon Him; its talking to Him; its listening to Him; its communing with Him; with God, not Satan. The only place Satan should have in the prayer life of the believer is when the believer prays for God's protection from Him, nothing more.
But some would say, 'what about fighting the enemy?' We're never told in Scripture to fight the enemy, the enemy being Satan. In fact, the only fight that we're told to fight as believers is "... the good fight of faith..." (1 Timothy 6: 12). Even in that great warfare passage of Ephesians 6: 10-18 where the Bible beautifully describes the armor that God has provided for the believers, having been clothed in Christ the believer is told to do only two things: 1. the believer is told to "... stand..." vs. 13-14; and 2. the believer is told to pray, vs. 18-20. The believer is not told to fight. The believer is not told to do battle with Satan. The believer is told to stand and to pray. The significance of this can not be overlooked. Where as in the previous paragraph I point out the issue of pride, because in addressing Satan in prayer places a focus and emphasis on the individual and the spiritual power of the believer who is praying; the words in Ephesians 6 places the emphasis on God! We're to be protected, but God is the one who does the fighting! I'm reminded of what Jesus said in John 15: 5, "... for without Me you can do nothing..." But some would say, 'what about the sword? The sword is an offensive weapon isn't it?' Well, the sword is both actually; it is offensive and defensive. But even more than that, the sword is the Word of God; it isn't speaking to Satan, or casting Satan to hell (which can't be done by a human being any way), or anything like that. What it is, is what Jesus did in Matthew 4: if Satan presents himself and tempts the believer, the response of the believer should be the Word of God, Scripture.
So, why do people do this? Why do some people begin to address Satan in the middle of prayer when prayer is only for communion with God? Well, I don't know how to answer the question any other way than to answer the question, but I'll try to be as delicate as I can. The answer is Biblical ignorance. Those who have such a practice often have had teaching, false teaching, over a period of time that has led them to believe in what they are doing, but they have never really examined Scripture carefully with respect to this practice; had they done so, they would see that there is no Biblical reason to address and speak to Satan while in prayer to God.
When you pray, pray to God... and God alone! Until next time, may God bless you!
I've always firmly believed in prayer. I believe that many Christians miss out on much of what the Lord has for them because they fail to engage the Lord in prayer. James 4: 2 says, "... you do not have because you do not ask..." As a pastor I often counsel with people. Many times I am told something like this: "Pastor, I just feel so distant from the Lord. I feel like God isn't there. My relationship with God is not where it should be." When I hear statements like this I often ask several diagnostic questions and one of those inquiries is: tell me about your prayer life. More often than not the person who makes statements like these has a prayer life that is virtually non-existent. So, let's be clear: prayer is vital to your Christian walk. Prayer is as necessary as breath. If we're to live physically we must breathe. If we're to live spiritually we must pray. And so, I offer this paragraph as my disclaimer of strong conviction on the necessity of a faithful and fervent prayer life for the Christian believer.
Now, on to the issue at hand... I would ask why would anyone begin to address Satan while praying? There are no Biblical examples for such a practice. We find that Jesus addresses Satan in Matthew 4 but this was not a part of His prayer time. Satan approached Jesus with temptation, to which the Lord responded with the Word of God. Peter, Paul, James, Jude or any other New Testament writer for that matter, in none of these men do we ever find them addressing Satan in prayer, much less teaching that believers should ever do so. Then of course, there is the matter that Satan, though very sly, cunning and deceptive, is nothing like the God of the Bible. The Devil is not all-powerful, he is not all-knowing and he is not omni-present, which is to say that Satan is not and can not be present every where at the same time. You see, the Lord is present with me in the person of the Holy Spirit, just as He present with every other believer on planet earth. The Lord can manifest His presence in a church service where I pastor, while at the same time He can manifest His presence in a service at the church down the street, and in a church in an neighboring state, even in a different country. God is omni-present... He can be everywhere all the time, but Satan is and can do none of these things. The Devil's knowledge is limited, his power is limited and his presence is limited. Knowing this, why would anyone waste their time or breath in speaking to Satan in prayer? More than likely he isn't even there and certainly doesn't hear their prayers. Really, if you stop and think about it this is a pride issue. There are about one billion people on the earth who profess to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, granted, all of those professions may not be genuine, but, even still, given the fact that Satan can only be in place at one time, what is the realistic possibility of Satan coming against you personally. Consider if there were only one million believers on the earth. If Satan were to personally attack each one for one day, one day at a time it would take him 2,739.73 years to attack each believer for one day; and that is based on there only being one million believers on the earth. Of course we know there to be more than one million believers on the earth. We also know that Satan has and does influence the kingdoms or powers of this world. 2 Corinthians 4: 4 refers to the Devil as "the god of this world." So the figures I have mentioned would not even account for Satan's work in the lives of those who are lost. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not minimizing the work of the enemy, all that I'm saying is that Satan can't attacking you and someone in India at the same time. He can't be in two places at once.
So, why talk to Satan in prayer? Prayer is not meant for Satan and has nothing to do with him, other than seeking God's protection from him and wisdom in response to him. Prayer is ordained for communing with the holy God of the Bible, not Satan. One day the disciples of the Lord ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. And in Luke 11 the Lord taught them about prayer. We often call it the model prayer, for in His teaching Jesus modelled how and what we should pray. He said, "... When you pray, say, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one..." (vs. 2-4). Notice, that in response to the direct request to be taught to pray, Jesus models prayer and in His teaching there is no place given for addressing Satan. The prayer is to God. God alone is to whom we pray! Now, in His teaching on prayer Jesus models asking God for protection from Satan, but again, this request is made to the Lord and protection from Satan is the subject, but he isn't the addressee. Prayer is where and when we seek God; its when we cry out to Him; its when we cast our cares upon Him; its talking to Him; its listening to Him; its communing with Him; with God, not Satan. The only place Satan should have in the prayer life of the believer is when the believer prays for God's protection from Him, nothing more.
But some would say, 'what about fighting the enemy?' We're never told in Scripture to fight the enemy, the enemy being Satan. In fact, the only fight that we're told to fight as believers is "... the good fight of faith..." (1 Timothy 6: 12). Even in that great warfare passage of Ephesians 6: 10-18 where the Bible beautifully describes the armor that God has provided for the believers, having been clothed in Christ the believer is told to do only two things: 1. the believer is told to "... stand..." vs. 13-14; and 2. the believer is told to pray, vs. 18-20. The believer is not told to fight. The believer is not told to do battle with Satan. The believer is told to stand and to pray. The significance of this can not be overlooked. Where as in the previous paragraph I point out the issue of pride, because in addressing Satan in prayer places a focus and emphasis on the individual and the spiritual power of the believer who is praying; the words in Ephesians 6 places the emphasis on God! We're to be protected, but God is the one who does the fighting! I'm reminded of what Jesus said in John 15: 5, "... for without Me you can do nothing..." But some would say, 'what about the sword? The sword is an offensive weapon isn't it?' Well, the sword is both actually; it is offensive and defensive. But even more than that, the sword is the Word of God; it isn't speaking to Satan, or casting Satan to hell (which can't be done by a human being any way), or anything like that. What it is, is what Jesus did in Matthew 4: if Satan presents himself and tempts the believer, the response of the believer should be the Word of God, Scripture.
So, why do people do this? Why do some people begin to address Satan in the middle of prayer when prayer is only for communion with God? Well, I don't know how to answer the question any other way than to answer the question, but I'll try to be as delicate as I can. The answer is Biblical ignorance. Those who have such a practice often have had teaching, false teaching, over a period of time that has led them to believe in what they are doing, but they have never really examined Scripture carefully with respect to this practice; had they done so, they would see that there is no Biblical reason to address and speak to Satan while in prayer to God.
When you pray, pray to God... and God alone! Until next time, may God bless you!
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