My Prayer and My Plea

Good morning Father.  I would like to petition You from my very heart, in truth, before all the world for the forgiveness of my sin.  I have taken lightly the cost for which you bought me; the price of Your own blood.  I am not my own and how quickly I forget that fact.  I blame not the enemy of my soul as I am perfectly responsible for my own sin.  There is a great gulf between my own sin and that of Lucifer; I wish not to implicate him for my suffering any longer.  If it be that serpent then so be it, I am yours and will speak of your greatness.  From before the earth was formed, before the fabric of time was woven, YOU WERE.  I am sorry for my wickedness and the hypocrisy which runs so deep Father.  I am a great deceiver and I openly admit my sin for the entire world to see.  I wish that you may be glorified in my open admittance of my very own sin.  I ask that you touch the hearts and lives of all those who would see this prayer.  Please forgive us, The Many, who are deceived of our ownselves and not knowing the trouble which we are bringing upon ourselves.  It is our own fault.  You have given us Your Word Father and we have neglected it.  Your Word became flesh and it cleansed the world of its sin, but sadly in our day so far removed from Your sacrifice, we see in a glass half dark.  We don't have true FAITH, I dare say that most of us lack even a mustard seed of FAITH.  It is our own undoing for not heeding Your Word.

I plead with you this morning for forgiveness.  I ask that your blood be poured on me this morning.  I will to perform Your will today.  I submit to you as best I know how.  Lead me into this great world filled with wealth that fades, sin leading unto death, and let Your Awesome Strength be made manifest in my sufferings.  May the world see my suffering and seek You alone that they may not taste of this bitterness in my soul.  It is the bitterness of disobedience, hypocrisy, pride, deception, wickedness, cheating, stealing, lying, and seeking after my own glory.  Father, I repent of these sins.  Your Glory is worthy of seeking all by itself, it needs not my help to achieve that which it seeks.  May I be true to You who have called upon me to be obedient to Your Word.  May I seek from You treasure to store up in Heaven and not on this earth.  So quickly I forget that my treasures should never be in this life.  How quickly do my feet run to evil, it disgusts me to even think of it.  Father, please help me today, please let Your light shine through me in a way that I don't have a clue. May others see You in me so that YOU ALONE are glorified.  Hide me, the man, from any self seeking and heap up glory for Yourself through my life.  -Amen

Readers, you have not heard from me in quite some time. This prayer above is written from my heart and it is my own prayer this morning.  Hypocrisy runs deep, and a hypocrite I am.  I want you to know that I do not set out to be a hypocrite, it is by my sinful nature in direct disobedience to God, that I fall victim to this sin and all others.  The Word has much to say concerning a hypocrite and it is none pleasing.  If you are like me, and you can feel God's Holy Spirit upon you this morning, PLEAD NOW FOR HIS FORGIVENESS. 

The hour in which we now live is frightfully dangerous, and we do not know the number of our days; nor do we know the hour which the Son of Man will return.  We do know the season in which He will return and EACH ONE OF YOU IS LIVING IN IT RIGHT NOW.  

Do not regard lightly the Word of the Lord.  Be blessed and take count of your iniquities.  You have not heard from me in a long time due to my own.  This you will hear more about soon.  I take responsibility for my own sins.  Know that there is a spiritual war which is taking place right now; the price is YOUR SOUL. 

Father, I ask you for the breastplate of righteousness right now before I leave and step into this world this morning.  I ask for a MIGHTY SHIELD of FAITH because the enemy is deadly accurate with his arrows of temptations and wickedness.  I ask for helmet of Salvation in Your very own Son.  I pray you would shod my feet with the preparation of the gospel.  Please give me a sharp sword which can pierce so I am not defenseless against the wiles of the devil.  While he is the great chess master, always two moves ahead, Lucifer quickly forgets that you made the pieces which go on the board.  Check mate it may be for Lucifer for now; but soon You will gather up all the pieces and declare which are Your own.  Let us not forget that before this world ever was, before the Angels and all mankind, YOU ARE and WERE GOD. 

If You will for me to speak the gospel, I ask that You please shut my ears so that I cannot hear; for I do not want glory.  I am not willing to steal any longer.  To thine is all Glory forever and ever. 

I love you all and pray that each step of your day will be prepared for you.  That your path be ligthened by God and that every step you take and every word you speak have purpose.  Pleasing to God shall we be if we will but humble ourselves and obey. 

Shalom

Playing Chess with the Devil

by Todd Strandberg

Playing Chess With The Devil

I have always been terrible at the game of chess. It's not that I don't understand how the game is played--I perfectly understand the rules and moves.  The problem is my inability think ahead. If I make a move on the board that seems to be prudent, three moves later, it usually turns out to have been a fatal mistake. 

When I play against a computer, I normally get beat like a rented mule. The only way I've been able to win at the game is by cheating. I have one program that allows me to turn one of my pawns into an extra queen. Sadly, even with this unfair advantage, the devilish program still finds a way to overcome the shortfall and checkmate me. 

Chess is often depicted as a sport for wimps, but this label is incorrect. A son once asked his dad why chess is not an Olympic game. His father’s response was brief and to the point: "Chess is not a noble sport. When you play chess, your object is to crush the opponent's mind. In today's world, a man's mind is his most precious commodity. Proving to your opponent that his most precious commodity is useless can be devastating for him."

Satan: The Chess Master

It is anyone’s guess what Satan does for recreation in his spare time, but I imagine he would be very good at chess. For someone who spends most of his time devising strategies for ensnaring humanity with various vices, he would likely be a formidable chess opponent.

One of the greatest mistakes we can make is to underestimate Satan’s cunning. We tend to view him as a loser who ran afoul of God and got fired from his job. Unfortunately, he found new employment: the task of damning men's souls to hell.

The Bible certainly doesn't play down the devil's abilities. We are warned that he is an enemy who wishes to destroy all of us. In fact, 1 Peter 5:8-9 says, “Your enemy the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

A wise person is someone who realizes it is impossible to match wits with the devil. Just as I would have no chance of winning a game of chess against the world's most powerful computer, Satan can outmaneuver me with hardly any effort.

A good example of this can be found in the waning days of World War II. As Germany was losing the war, many Germans realized Adolf Hitler was a mad man who needed to be stopped by any means. At least 42 attempts were made to take his life, and all failed in preposterously inconvenient ways.

Once you read some examples of these attempts, you would have to conclude that some unseen agent was protecting Hitler from harm:

• An Iron Cross recipient at Nuremberg was going to stab Hitler in front of 1,000 soldiers at an assembly. Hitler had a cold that day and decided to go home early.
• A bomb that was intended to blow up the Nazi leader in mid-flight failed to go off because cold weather had hindered the reaction of the chemicals in the bomb.
• An infantry captain made plans to explode a bomb while he demonstrated a new army winter overcoat to the German leader. The day before the bombing was to take place, a British air raid destroyed the uniforms.
• One general tried to kill Hitler with a concealed bomb that was to be detonated by acid. Unfortunately, Hitler left the building before the acid could act.
• A bomb finally did go off next to Hitler. The Fuehrer was spared by a heavy desk that shielded him from the blast.

Historians actually joke that Hitler had “Satan's luck.” The truth is, the devil's hand was as work, and the opposition was pursuing an impossible quest. Perhaps if the Nazi leaders had prayed for “God's luck,” they might have accomplished their goal and saved millions of lives.

Satan's Favorite Moves

Most professional chess players have a series of favorite ploys they like to use against their opponents. Satan has several tricks he regularly uses against us. By being aware of them, we can avoid his snares. Paul said, "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Cor. 2:11).

Here are six of the strategies that Satan uses. Because they all begin with letter "D," they should be easy to remember.

Divide - A standard strategy is to divide the enemy force in order to make it easier to conquer. Satan loves to create division so he can pick off the weak and weak-minded people.

Doubt - The Bible says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God." Once Satan can persuade people to question God's Word and His goodness, forgiveness, and love, he is ensured of victory.

Discourage - This strategy involves getting us to focus on our problems rather than entrusting God to provide a solution. It can also be someone else’s problem that creates discouragement in our own lives.

Diversion - Not all problems are equal. The enemy may come at us with an attack of lesser importance to distract us from his main attack. He may also distract us with good things. For example, parents may become too focused on their careers, enabling their children fall into rebellion.

Defeat - The devil is at his best when he causes people to feel so overwhelmed by failure that they don't even try to resist his onslaught. If we’re not resisting the devil, he will move in for the kill.

Delay - In the game of life, Satan wins by default. We are all born in a lost state, so unless we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we will perish. Because procrastination doesn't require doing anything, this strategy is an easy path for victory.

God: The Ultimate Chess Master

The rivalry between God and Satan is often seen as a battle between two equally skilled chess masters, playing against one another to see whose plan will be victorious. This vision is totally fictitious. There never was a real contest between God and Satan, and there never will be.

God is in charge of everything that happens. His level of control is so absolute, He sets the stage for everything that will happen in the universe. How can Satan compete against a Being who knows every move he is going to make ahead of time? God does more than just rule the chess board. He controls both the white and the black pieces.

The devil is so hopelessly outwitted, God published in the Bible many of Satan’s fatal mistakes far ahead of the time he made them. There are still some blunders yet to come. The Holy Word predicts that the devil will attempt to destroy the Jews and that he will make a stand against Jesus at the Battle of Armageddon. Both will end in total failure.

With God having proven himself unbeatable, one might wonder why Satan keeps challenging Him. The devil's problem is that he has such a depraved, arrogant mind, he is incapable of admitting defeat. There is no limit to the foolishness of a heart that is in rebellion against God. For this reason, Satan still thinks he has a chance to vanquish the Almighty.

The only reason we have the impression that God is in a fair contest with His adversary is the fact He grants His creation free will. Our decision to accept or reject God has no reflection on Him. We can make all the decisions we want, but in the end, they all fit into God's perfect plan.

Winning the Game by Following God's Will

One of the clearest indications of how vulnerable we are to Satan's willpower can be found in the warning Jesus gave Peter in Luke 22:31: "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat." At first, I thought this verse meant that Satan had asked for dominion over Peter and Jesus rebuffed the request. Jesus then said, "I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail..." (Luke 22:31). But I didn't pay attention to the last part. Jesus added "...And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers," which means that God had allowed Satan to sift Peter.

Peter was the type of emotional person that made him easy pickings for the devil. In the space of one night, he rebuked Jesus when He told the disciple of His pending death, he turned to violence by cutting off the ear of the High Priest's servant, and he denied the Lord three times.

Peter met with failure because he was out of God's will. He trusted in his own strength, and Satan made mincemeat of him. When Peter realized his mistake and became totally dependent on God's guidance for his life, he then became a victorious leader of the Church.

I have been whipped by the devil several times because I failed to seek God's counsel on important issues. What has saved me from complete disaster is the belief that Jesus is Lord of life. Giving God credit didn't save me from having to seek His guidance on how to untangle problems that I allowed to come my way. 

We generally fail to take our daily matters to prayer because we don't think it’s that important, we’re too lazy, or we just don’t think God will answer us. Because we live in an evil world with an enemy who drools at the thought of being able to destroy the lives of Christians, we can't afford to not seek God's direction.

I will end with these words of advice. Jesus Christ is our Eternal King, and He is Invincible--the ultimate Checkmate Master of this chess match of life in which we are engaged. If we put our trust in the Lord, He will lead us to victory.

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 15:57).