A few weeks ago, I began to study the book Fervent: A Woman’s Battle Plan for Serious, Specific, and Strategic Prayer, by Priscilla Shirer. Priscilla writes that prayer is “a key part of your offensive weaponry against a cunning foe who prowls around and watches for your weakness, your vulnerable places, for any opportunity to destroy you.” The purpose of her book is to develop specific prayer strategies to counteract Satan’s attempts to discourage believers from praying.

The Powers of Darkness

Priscilla believes that most people either overestimate or underestimate Satan’s influence and power. As a result, they either experience undue fear of Satan or they are unaware of his schemes and are open to every attack.

I have never been one to say “the devil made me do it.” I tend to attribute spiritual struggles to my sinful nature or to weaknesses of my character. Having said that, I do believe that Satan is real and that his dark powers are actively working in this world. Jesus said that the devil is the father of lies (Luke 8:44). The apostle Paul wrote that our struggle is not against people but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil.

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:11-12

I have always felt safe from Satan because I belong to God. Satan cannot destroy me! But have I been underestimating Satan’s power to manipulate me? Priscilla asked a probing question:

When you can’t seem to respond to spiritual stimuli with the same optimism and obedience as you once did, why do you think it could only be attributable to your bad character?

Priscilla Shirer

When I get discouraged by the brokenness of this world, when I lose my spiritual zeal, is it because I am too lazy or too easily distracted? Or does Satan know exactly how to curb my enthusiasm, how to silence my voice?

The Power of Prayer

While I continue to wrestle with the question of whether I am vulnerable to the machinations of Satan, I believe in the power of prayer. God moves in mysterious ways – through the Spirit who helps us in our weakness. I don’t always know what I ought to pray for. The Spirit may nudge me to pray for a specific person. The Spirit may nudge me to pray for a cause. The Spirit may nudge me to pray for courage or wisdom or guidance. The Spirit puts the right concerns on my heart at the right time.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Romans 8:26-26 (NIV)

In my last post, I shared how I had been questioning whether I was praying too much about my worries. Yet I knew that the concerns on my heart are in line with God’s will. Priscilla wrote something that I needed to hear:

When you bring your concerns and fears and irritations to the Lord in prayer, you’re aligning your weakling spirit with the full force of God’s Holy Spirit.

Priscilla Shirer

Priscilla also shared some wisdom from her grandmother. Her grandmother wrote her prayer requests in a spiral notebook and prayed over them every morning. When Priscilla asked her why she wrote her prayers in her notebook, she said, “So I won’t forget.”

Write it down so you won’t forget.

Make a daily appointment to pray.

Pray with all kinds of prayers and requests (Ephesians 6:18).

Keep on praying.