HOIW SATAN INTERFERES WITH WORSHIP
If something is important to us spiritually, it stands to reason Satan will try to keep us from doing it. Therefore, if we as Christians struggle with something God calls us to do, we can assume it is so important our enemy wants to prevent it. Something like prayer. Or worship. I’ve recently talked about prayer, so let’s focus on worship now.
When we think of worship, we often equate it with standing and singing in church on a Sunday morning. But worship should be part of our everyday life. Thinking of God, praising Him, thanking Him and giving Him the credit He deserves should be an integral part of our mental life. Yet that isn’t always true. Here are some things I have learned about what Satan and his forces do to interfere with our worship.
- They tempt us to focus on something more than we focus on God. What do you spend most of your time thinking about? What’s the first thing you think about in the morning or the last at night? It could be a hobby, your job, a relationship or a favorite possession. It may be an upcoming event or a special activity. There is nothing wrong with liking these things and thinking about them, but when they so occupy us that we don’t give God His due time or recognition, then they are wrong. When something else meets a need that only God should meet, the Bible says they are “Idols” (1 John 5:21).
- They fill our minds with unimportant and distracting thoughts. Unlike number one above, these aren’t necessarily happy or enjoyable thoughts. They are distracting thoughts. We try to worship and we think of things we need to do, a call we forgot to make, problems at work, stress at home, heavy financial responsibilities or whatever worries or fears we are dealing with. There’s nothing like trying to pray or worship to bring all kinds of unimportant (compared to praying or worshipping) things to mind.
- They point out how weak our faith and worship really are. That puts the focus on me where it doesn’t belong, not on God where it does belong. Then we focus on our worship instead of the one we are worshipping. We think about how we are worshipping, if it is good enough and what does God think of it. What God cares about is that we give Him our undivided attention and focus on Him. That’s what a wife wants from her husband, or a husband from his wife. That recognition and focus, when applied to God, is worship. Satan will try to get you to focus on yourself, but don’t let him. Keep your focus on God.
- They remind us of our sin and failure. This is similar to #3 above, but focuses on what we have done wrong in our lives, especially sins in the past. Again, the focus becomes on us instead of Him. We must learn to accept His forgiveness (Psalm 103) and to know how to forgive ourselves.
- They bring to mind the prayers God hasn’t answered and the problems He hasn’t removed. Again, the focus is on ourselves and our ‘disappointment’ with God. Why should I worship a God who doesn’t care about me? Then we start thinking about whatever is causing the pain in our lives and our minds go down that familiar for fruitless path.
- They tell us that since we are worshipping God we are sure to get a special blessing from Him. The purpose of this thought is to change our motive for worshipping. Satan tells us how spiritual we are and that God must be very impressed with us. Instead of showing love and appreciation to God, our purpose for worship is to get something from God. That may not be our original intent, but when the thought is shot into our mind it can be very hard to get rid of. Try not thinking about blue elephants and you’ll see what I mean. Only be getting our focus back on Jesus can we move ahead in true worship.
Worshipping God is a privilege, something we should want to do. It should spontaneously flow from our overflowing hearts. God is glorified and we are blessed. There is power in praise that is greater than Satan’s power (Psalm 8:2; Matthew 21:15-16). No one knows that better than Satan. That’s why he does all he can to interfere with our worship – if we let him.
John 4:23-24 “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
Which of these does the enemy use on you to interfere with your worship?
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling)
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