In Screwtape’s next letter, he encourages Wormwood
to drive praying for a feeling into his patient. Screwtape writes, “When they meant to pray
for courage, let them really be trying to feel brave. When they say they are praying for
forgiveness, let them be trying to feel forgiven. Teach them to estimate the value of each
prayer by their success in producing the desired feeling.” Have you ever done this? Have you ever felt heavy laden with sin,
turned to God in repentance, and still felt guilty? Did that continued guilt seemingly indicate a
failed prayer and unforgiveness from the Father?
We well know that Satan is the father of lies (John
8:44). Have we thought about how he
tries to enter our prayer life with these lies?
If he can’t prevent us from praying, he will try to push his way into
our conversations with God by encouraging us to pray the wrong way. When we pray for forgiveness, we want our sin
to be wiped clean, but our human nature calls for that pacifying feeling in
order to know that we’ve been forgiven.
The truth is, though, whether we continue in guilt or we feel that our sin has been washed, if
our hearts truly repent, we have been forgiven.
Sometimes I am glad to quickly move away from my sin, and other times,
the guilt lingers. But that lasting feeling that I’ve done wrong serves the
purpose of reminding me not to do it again.
Speaking from my own walk, I think sometimes Satan
has an easy time of focusing our attention inward on our emotions. He teaches us to think of our present state
of mind as “reality,” calling us to focus in on whatever we feel at present,
tricking us into seeing only a brief moment in time rather than the whole
picture. When we think thusly, we don’t
always see impending consequences for what we say and do in these moments. Do you find yourself reflecting on the devil’s
strategy, only to fall into the easy snare the next time you’re upset? I do.
After an argument or a short temper, once some resolution is made, I
feel so silly! Tricked into believing in
feelings again. That’s not to say I don’t
believe in the value of emotion. The
Lord created us to emote and connect with others because of feelings in
common. However, feelings leave us, and
the Truth doesn’t. Remember this.
Keeping the perspective of what feelings are in
relation to everything else will help us stand against the devil when he tells
us our prayer is ineffective because we don’t feel better. Remember, he doesn’t want you to pray. He wants you to think that your prayers mean
nothing so that you will stop praying.
But don’t stop! Don’t stop, even
when you think God can’t hear a thing. He
hears everything, and He wants to hear more.
Please don’t be deceived. Pray
with me today that we will keep praying in spite of how we feel when we pray. Pray that we will be able to keep our
emotions in perspective, and always see beyond to God’s true Word.
God bless you today and every day,
adguglielmo
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