A few days ago I struggled with something that was not pleasing to God. I was extremely angry and upset with myself and in frustration I asked God why I failed Him that day. His answer was almost immediate when He said, “Because I didn’t seek Him that morning.” I have always had the routine of praying on my way into work but lately I have been more focused on praying after work. It’s not that I don’t pray in the morning anymore, but I have found myself getting lazy. That morning in particular I did more sleeping than praying on my drive into work and when I did pray it was not a passionate, from the heart prayer. On top of that, my usual 3pm prayer time was moved to 7pm because of my busy schedule and satan took advantage of my weakened state. Why was I so weak? I hadn’t had my daily bread. I was hungry.
One of the hardest teachings for Jesus’s disciples to understand was when He told them that He was the bread of life (John 6:35). In fact, this teaching was so hard for them to accept that it caused many of His disciples to walk away from Him (John 6:66). In the book of Matthew a great crowd of 4,000 men had been following Jesus for 3 days without food when He said, “I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way." Jesus Christ is our spiritual food. He sustains us. He satisfies us. If we don’t eat from Him we become weak and the longer it has been, the weaker we will be. The weaker we become our chances of collapsing and falling into temptation and sin becomes that much greater. Does a lion chase after the fastest, strongest animal when it’s time to eat or does it look for the slow, tired, weakened one for an easy kill. Satan does not have an off day and he does not rest. He is always looking and waiting for the hungry, weakened pray. 1 Peter 5:8 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
One of the hardest teachings for Jesus’s disciples to understand was when He told them that He was the bread of life (John 6:35). In fact, this teaching was so hard for them to accept that it caused many of His disciples to walk away from Him (John 6:66). In the book of Matthew a great crowd of 4,000 men had been following Jesus for 3 days without food when He said, “I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way." Jesus Christ is our spiritual food. He sustains us. He satisfies us. If we don’t eat from Him we become weak and the longer it has been, the weaker we will be. The weaker we become our chances of collapsing and falling into temptation and sin becomes that much greater. Does a lion chase after the fastest, strongest animal when it’s time to eat or does it look for the slow, tired, weakened one for an easy kill. Satan does not have an off day and he does not rest. He is always looking and waiting for the hungry, weakened pray. 1 Peter 5:8 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
The world is like a den of hungry lions that are looking for someone to devour. Without God we have no defense against beasts that will tear us to shreds. We only have one hope to be lifted out alive. We must talk to God every morning before we get thrown in.
Darkness and night are often used to describe evil in the Bible. Through my own past experiences with ‘ghost’ hunting, I know that demonic activity definitely ramps up when the sun goes down. I have had bad dreams that I know were from demons on a day when I was being obedient and doing the will of God. Isn’t it just like a thief to wait for the lights to go out before he tries to break in and steal? How many times have you woken up from a bad dream or just sleep in general and something started weighing heavily on your mind seemingly out of nowhere? I have heard countless stories of people that have opened the door to evil either through the occult or some other way, that are tormented terribly as they try to sleep at night.
Have you ever wondered why those that work night shift struggle to feel awake no matter what time of day it is? To most the answer is incredibly simple. They can tell you all about the natural sleep cycle and all the different things it does to your body to disrupt it, but as wise as God is, His answer would be incredibly simple: You are going against my perfect design. It’s a fact that if you don’t get proper rest you will be tired. Jesus said to find our rest in Him (Matthew 11:28). If we look for rest outside of Him, we will never attain it. Have you ever returned from a vacation more tired than you left? Have you ever returned to work on Monday and said that weekend was not long enough? True rest can only be found at Jesus’s feet. If we don’t find our rest in Him, we will sleepwalk through this life and if we are always sleeping, we won’t even know the enemy came. Matthew 13:25 “But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.”
Night may symbolize evil but there is one good thing about night…the sun always rises in the morning. Every day you wake up it’s a fresh start, everything is brand new. Every day you have the same choice to make: Do I live for myself or do I die to myself? If you were building a house the first thing you must build is the foundation. If you try to build a house without a foundation it will only be temporary and it will soon fall to the ground. Jesus Christ, the prophets, and the disciples He picked are the foundation of God’s household. They came first so we would not fall as long as we stand on what they built. How can we go through a day without falling if we are not standing on Jesus Christ? When the winds of testing come we will surely fall like I did. Our will power or our desire to do good is not a strong enough anchor because human power is worthless (John 6:63). Praying is the foundation for our day. We can’t skip to the next step or try to cut corners. We must start our day at ground level and lay at Jesus Christ’s feet first.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and sustain you. Hold firmly to His word.
Psalm 5:3 “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.
Psalm 143:8-10 “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”
Have you ever wondered why those that work night shift struggle to feel awake no matter what time of day it is? To most the answer is incredibly simple. They can tell you all about the natural sleep cycle and all the different things it does to your body to disrupt it, but as wise as God is, His answer would be incredibly simple: You are going against my perfect design. It’s a fact that if you don’t get proper rest you will be tired. Jesus said to find our rest in Him (Matthew 11:28). If we look for rest outside of Him, we will never attain it. Have you ever returned from a vacation more tired than you left? Have you ever returned to work on Monday and said that weekend was not long enough? True rest can only be found at Jesus’s feet. If we don’t find our rest in Him, we will sleepwalk through this life and if we are always sleeping, we won’t even know the enemy came. Matthew 13:25 “But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.”
Night may symbolize evil but there is one good thing about night…the sun always rises in the morning. Every day you wake up it’s a fresh start, everything is brand new. Every day you have the same choice to make: Do I live for myself or do I die to myself? If you were building a house the first thing you must build is the foundation. If you try to build a house without a foundation it will only be temporary and it will soon fall to the ground. Jesus Christ, the prophets, and the disciples He picked are the foundation of God’s household. They came first so we would not fall as long as we stand on what they built. How can we go through a day without falling if we are not standing on Jesus Christ? When the winds of testing come we will surely fall like I did. Our will power or our desire to do good is not a strong enough anchor because human power is worthless (John 6:63). Praying is the foundation for our day. We can’t skip to the next step or try to cut corners. We must start our day at ground level and lay at Jesus Christ’s feet first.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and sustain you. Hold firmly to His word.
Psalm 5:3 “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.
Psalm 143:8-10 “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”
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