Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Eph 6:10-11)
In Psalm 121, the writer makes a profound statement worthy of note for us today. In desperate need, he doesn't look to his counterparts, his environment, or even the strongest around him; choosing instead to rely on the Lord.
A few weeks ago, we had problems getting some work done in our home. However hard we tried, the company we were paying would not turn up, or do the work to our satisfaction. Many angry phone calls later, I was ready to have a coronary.
'Why don't you pray?' a voice whispered to my heart.
It was as though a light bulb switched on in middle of a dark, cluttered room. In my effort to get things done, I had forgotten the devil's capacity to make time-wasting trouble. My husband and I had wasted days that could have been better spent fighting this unseen giant.
I heeded the voice and prayed right after we booked the next appointment; and immediately, my heart was guarded with peace, my countenance changed and I knew I had the victory. The next day, the engineer arrived and I greeted him with a smile, having bathed my previous frustration in thanksgiving to the Lord. I knew that my prayers had been answered no matter how the situation appeared, and that although the power to make my life easy lay with the company, the ultimate power to make them do so was in God's hands - he was my help in that situation.
As a result, no matter how much the enemy tried to further manipulate the situation that morning - and he tried, as even more things went missing or wrong - this time I stood my ground in prayer, and continued to give thanks to the Lord who was my helper. Less than an hour later, the job was done.