I Peter 5:8 “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

It is a mistake to think of Satan as merely a setter of traps for unwary Christians. He is that to be sure, but he is much more dangerous than that. Satan is a predator. He does not passively sit by and wait for you to fall into one of his traps. He actively looks for Christians who have their guards down, those who have forgotten to put on the armor of God or who have gone out into the world without their greatest weapon…the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. They are defenseless as lambs. Satan does not simply want to hurt believers, he wants to destroy them. His great hatred for Christ and the knowledge of his future demise fuels his desire to lash out at the only thing available for him to attack…God’s children. We are warned by the Apostle Peter not to walk blindly and cluelessly through this world. We are to be wary as watchmen, looking for signs of trouble and ready to deal with it! Ask yourself this question: if the devil saw you today, would he see easy prey? Or would he decide to keep searching, looking for someone not so ready to put up a fight? If he sees you as prey, it’s time for you to pray.

Pray: “Creator God, you have not left me defenseless in this world. But if I go out unprepared, I am just as likely to fall prey to our enemy as one who doesn’t know better. Remind me each day to put on my armor, to take my sword and to be watchful. Help me to recognize the signs of the enemy when he is close by, to trust in your strength and your might, and to claim the victory won for me by my forever Lord, Jesus, in whose name I ask this – Amen”