Have you ever noticed, as a Christian, those times when you just want to have some quiet time for prayer and to read your Bible that something interrupts you? It’s amazing how Satan will send his goon squad out on errands to distract you.
Satan will use any means necessary to keep God’s children from reading the Word of God and from communicating with our Lord in prayer. Bad situations may sideline us. I am reminded of the words of the apostle Paul.
“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13).
Paul did not consider those bad times when he went through so many trials, such as imprisonment, for example, as times to not study God’s Word and pray. No, he still studied the Word, prayed, and even sang songs to the glory of God. Actually, bad times would be more apt to draw us to God.
What about the times in our lives when most everything is going smoothly? Satan will use more subtle tactics to interrupt us.
My wife and I enjoy our morning Bible reading and prayer time together. However, almost without fail, our cat Pepper finds that as a time she decides to get our attention. I’ll come back to this.
Pepper was born May 4th, 2014, and has always been an indoor cat since then. Over the years, eight plus now, she has picked up on our words and habits. She knows her name. She knows other words and phrases such as: treat, pumpkin, water, potato chip, bedtime, hush, and probably more we haven’t noticed. We have often wondered why an animal can learn our language, but we can’t learn theirs. I guess they’re smarter.
Debbie and I try to go to bed around 10:00 P.M., and Pepper will let us know it is time to go to bed … NOW. She likes to get me up the next morning around 5:30 or 6:00. She is a good alarm clock.
When we get the grooming brush out to brush her, she hears the click of the button on the brush and goes straight to the area we groom her. She loves it.
She likes to drink water from the bathroom sink, as most cats do, and will certainly let us know if we forgot to leave her water in the sink. Due to our sometimes forgetting this little detail, she will sometimes meow before she jumps up on the sink, I guess, so she isn’t jumping up there needlessly.
Her dry cat food is in a bowl on the floor in the dining room, and it must be full at all times. If it is a few bites short, we’ll hear about it.
Yeah … she’s spoiled, but let me get back to Debbie’s and my Bible study and prayer time. We do this at the dining room table, and almost without fail, Pepper begins her meowing until we open the closet doors in the hallway right off the dining room. So, one of us will get up and open the doors, and then she is happy as she checks out the closets for the hundredth time.
And then, on just a few occasions, while we’re having our Bible study, she’ll run through the house at warp speed. We look at each other and say, “She’s got the spirit.”
But there’s more …. When Debbie and I are eating, at the same table of course, she doesn’t bother us, only when we are having our Bible study and prayer time. Hmmm.
I realize that we have created this situation, but we can live with it. Although, sometimes I want to kill the cat. JUST KIDDING!
We do not have small children or grandchildren. They are all grown, but have you noticed that the baby cries just when you’re ready to spend some quiet time with the Lord, or the two-year-old suddenly demands your attention?
The phone rings. Your mind wanders. You’re tired. You just thought of something else you need to do. There’s a knock at the door. Something’s burning in the oven. Your spouse needs help with something. Well, you get the point.
None of these sources of interruptions are evil. The pets, the children, the phone, the doorbell, food in the oven, the spouse, etc., are all totally innocent. I have never experienced Satan sending an ugly demon to yank my Bible from my hand and curse me. No, it’s innocent distractions that he will use. Why? They are successful!
If you are a Christian who actually studies the Bible, in addition to just reading it, you are even more of a threat to Satan and his cause. Maybe that is why actually studying God’s Word is hard. It requires work, but the rewards are unlimited.
The following Scripture verses have always been my bedrock. I’ve always had the first three typed and taped to the front inside of my Bible.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalms 119:11).
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalms 119:105).
It is amazing what lengths Satan goes to in keeping us from reading God’s Word and spending time with the Lord in prayer. When Pepper interrupts our Bible study and prayer time, my wife and I jokingly say that Satan must be pinching the cat, but in reality, he will use that which is totally innocent to distract us. We have learned to just open the closet doors and continue. The cat is happy, and we are happy.
Is Satan stealing your time with God? Don’t let him. There are many things in our lives that we make time to do. Is there anything more important than our time in God’s Word and prayer?
Grant Phillips
Email: Phillip5769@twc.com
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html