I freaked out my wife...

A few weeks ago Heather and I had the opportunity to visit with a couple that was struggling in their marriage. As we were on our way to meet with them, we took a few minutes to pray while we were in the car. I led our brief prayer, and touched on the things that you would probably expect. However, after closing the prayer with an "Amen," I felt God telling me to pray again. This time He wanted me to pray specifically against the spiritual warfare that Satan would undoubtedly unleash on us and our time with this couple.

I grabbed Heather's hand again, and informed her that I felt like we needed to pray some more. My prayer was significantly different this time as I cried out for God's protection on us, the other couple, and even the coffee shop that we would be meeting in. My prayer went pretty deep as I could almost see us moving to the front line of the spiritual battle for this couple's marriage. After the prayer, Heather admitted that I had "freaked her out a little." But, we both have a better understanding of spiritual warfare after Satan's assault on our marriage almost 4 years ago. We learned a lot about the "prince of this world" (John 14:30). Here is a portion of my journal from 3 years ago:

"Something we have learned is that one of Satan’s primary targets is the Christian family. I recently went to lunch with one of my most respected long-time friends. I asked him to share some things that he would want to learn from my story. He immediately said that he, along with all married couples, need to understand that the Christian family has a huge “target on our backs.” The target that my friend was referring to has been drawn on us by Satan himself. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” As Steve Farrar has said, Satan wants to “affectively alienate and sever a husband’s relationship with his wife.” John Eldredge said, “The story of your life is the story of a long, sustained assault on your heart by the one who knows who you can be and fears it.“ I believe that Satan will go to great lengths to destroy a Christian family."

Let me urge you to be aware that Satan is always out to destroy you and your marriage. The Bible says to "resist the devil and he will flee from you." So, resist all temptations, and flee from anything that could allow Satan to get a foot inside the door of your marriage. Put on the armor of God, and wake up each day ready to fiercely fight the battle before you. Satan will attack you and your marriage. It is not "if" but "when." Pray for your marriage. Pray for your spouse. Pray for yourself.

I am very aware of Satan and his schemes, and I have great respect for his power. But I am not scared of the Prince of this World. Why? Because the King of the World goes to battle with me.

Rusty