Are You Praying Or Preying?

 

"His divine power has given us

 everything we need for a godly life."

2 Peter 1:3, NIV

 

A woman in Virginia received an unwelcome gift when her 

Christmas tree began sprouting with praying mantises. The

 insect eggs were hidden in the branches, and in the warmth 

of her house they began hatching, more than one hundred 

of them, which were soon on walls, ceilings, and windows. 

Next year, she said, she plans to buy an artificial tree.

 

The Bible compares God’s people to trees planted by 

the river (Psalm 1), but sometimes our thoughts and lives 

are filled with preying temptations. It’s strange how sinful 

thoughts hatch in the branches of our minds.

 

The psalmist tells us what to do. We Must let the Word of

 God dwell in our minds and meditate on it day and night. 

In Scripture, God provides us with everything we require 

to resist temptation. When we read passages of Scripture 

as Psalm 1 over and over, it seeps into our thoughts until 

we are totally transformed by the renewing of our mind 

(Romans 12:2). His Word is the sword of the Spirit by 

which we can defeat our preying enemy and become 

praying victors through Christ.

 

"Apply yourself wholly to the Scriptures, 

and apply the Scriptures wholly to yourself."

Johann Bengel, 1742