Praise the Lord, all you nations. Praise Him, all you people of the earth. For His unfailing love for us is powerful; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the Lord!
Holy Spirit, Paul wrote: “For if I forgave it in Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us. For we are not ignorant of his devices.” Holy Spirit I know from Your word, from growing in my faith for the last 41 years, and from listening to testimonies, that many of the devices Satan uses are the very things that got him and a third of the angels kicked out of heaven. The first device is pride, the idea that we either know it all, can do it all, or control it all. Your counter is humility for only You, God, know it all, can do it all, and control it all. The next device is self-worth, Satan will either puff you up or tear you down to destroy you. Your counter is that we are Your temple and adopted child through the gift of salvation, and we rely on Your mercy and grace to live the life You created us for. The next device Satan uses is lust or moral impurity, craving something out of the bounds that God intended for us. You, God, provide all good things, You created sex, security, and possessions. I will keep things in their proper order, and have and believe that Your way is right and only take care of what You provide and be secure in Your love for me. Satan loves to use doubt or confusion, You, O God, use faith, hope, and truth to destroy all of these. I realize it is healthy to question to learn and grow but not to question to attack.
Help me to always wear my armor and pray. Help me be like David and pray offensively and defensively so that I can trust in You to help me defend myself from and push forward past the devil’s schemes and devices.
Jesus prayed: Now I’m returning to you. I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing so my people can experience My joy completed in them. I gave them Your word; the godless world hated them because they didn’t join the world’s ways. Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways. I’m not asking that you take them out of the world but that you guard them from the Evil One. They are no more defined by the world than I am defined by the world. Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth; Your word is consecrating truth. In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. I’m consecrating myself for their sakes so they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission. I’m praying not only for them but also for those who will believe in me because of them and their witness about me. The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, So they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might believe that you sent me. The same glory you gave me, I gave them, so they’ll be as unified and together as we are—I in them and you in me. Then they’ll be mature in this oneness, and give the godless world evidence that you’ve sent me and loved them in the same way you’ve loved me. Father, I want those you gave me to be with me, right where I am, so they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me, having loved me long before there ever was a world. Righteous Father, the world has never known you. But I have known you; these disciples know you sent me on this mission. I have made your very being known to them—who you are and what you do—and continue to make it known, so that your love for me might be in them exactly as I am in them. (Amen) John 17:13-26, the Message