Praying for My Family Part 2预览

WHO IS THE ENEMY?

In week 1 of this series, we started learning how to pray for our families. This week, we want to call out the Enemy in our families and pray that he would not have as much effect on them. This enemy wants to separate our families, break apart our team, and distract us from the mission to go where God is sending us. But who is this enemy?

The enemy is Satan and his demonic forces. Christian tradition teaches that Satan was a fallen angel who wanted to take the place of God and rule in his place, based on Isaiah 14. He first shows up in the Garden of Eden and tempts Eve to disobey God and eat the fruit of the tree God told them not to eat from. We learn that he tries to disguise himself as an angel of light. He continues to deceive us and encourages us to think that going against God’s plan is going to be better. Eventually, we wake up from this deception and realize that our life and family are in ruins. In reality, Satan came only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). He will do anything, even lying and murder, to work to pull us away from God and each other. If he is doing all these things, what hope do we have?

We know that God is more powerful than Satan. We know that one day Jesus will return from heaven and come down and destroy Satan forever. He will bring about perfect peace and a new world that will be free from Satan. Until that time, we need to be aware of Satan and how he works in our families so that we can stand firm in faith and be united in the purpose God has for our families. When we pray for protection against Satan’s work in our families, we can know that God is faithful and powerful to respond.

Ask Yourself:
- How have I seen Satan’s work affecting my family?
- How does knowing who Satan is help me to pray for my family?

Pause to Pray for your family: Use today’s scriptures to inform you about who Satan is and to pray specifically against his work in your family. Use this prompt to get started -

Lord Jesus, thank you that you are more powerful than Satan’s work in my family. Please protect us from his lies and deception… Reveal to me situations where he is working and give me the strength to turn things around… Amen.