"Rise, my soul, to watch and pray; from your sleep awaken! Be not by the evil day unawares o'er taken; For the foe, well we know, is a harvest reaping While the saints are sleeping.
"Watch against the devil's snares lest asleep he find you; For indeed no pains he spares to deceive and blind you. Satan's prey oft are they who secure are sleeping And no watch are keeping."
On the night before He took His final steps to the cross, Jesus prayed in Gethsemane. He asked three of His disciples to watch, to keep awake, with Him. When Jesus returned from His prayers to find them asleep, He said, "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation" (Matthew 26:41a). That is our hymn's call to action: Watch and pray! Our Lord even gives us words to use in our wide-awake praying: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
We are watchful in prayer because our enemy the devil spares no effort "to deceive and blind" us. Scripture describes the ancient serpent of Eden as crafty or subtle. Satan is "a murderer from the beginning ... a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). The devil wants us to twist the Scriptures to suit our selfish desires, just as he first caused Eve to doubt God's command in Eden. When he tempts us to sin, Satan wants us to wonder, "Did God really say I should not do this?" For this reason, we watch and pray as we study the Word of God. The evil foe is a fallen angel, and he will often disguise himself as "as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14b). Caught in the devil's "angelic" snares, we are tempted to view sinful behavior as harmless and even good for us. Moral evils are disguised as things that we have as a "right" to do, so we must watch and pray as we encounter worldly philosophies.
Through the study of Scripture, the Lord opens our eyes to the traps of the sneaky serpent. The apostle Paul told the Christians at Corinth to forgive a person who had sinned against them. Such forgiveness is necessary "so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs" (2 Corinthians 2:11). Long ago our evil enemy was defeated by the Savior whose birth was foretold in Eden. Jesus, the woman's Offspring, the Son of God, was born among us "to destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8b). By His death and resurrection Jesus crushed the devil and delivered us from the foe's grasp, from sin and death. Satan knows that his end is near and his doom is sealed. The evil foe will continue to rage against us until Jesus returns, but we are armed for the fight with forgiveness and salvation. Wielding the Spirit's sword, the Word of God, we keep watch and we pray!
WE PRAY: Dear Savior, keep me alert and watchful in prayer to resist the designs of the evil one. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, "Rise, My Soul, to Watch and Pray," which is number 663 in the Lutheran Service Book.
Reflection Questions:
1. Being consistent in our prayers can be hard. It take a real commitment. How do you persist in your prayer life when it's difficult to do so?
2. What are some big obstacles for you when you try to pray?
3. How can reading the Bible before prayer be helpful in combatting temptations not to pray?
Today's Bible Readings: Isaiah 45-46 Romans 8:22-39
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