Who has your Focus?
So many Christians have lost focus in their lives. So much
like Peter when Jesus went to them walking on the water (Mat14:28). One moment he was
looking at Jesus, as his focus, and he was actually floating on water like
Jesus. The next moment he shifted the focus from Jesus to the waves forgetting
that the waves were there even the instance he slid his foot from the boat. As it
turned out, with his focus on the danger rather than the saviour, Peter began
perishing until he remembered where his focus ought to have been.
We think we are worshiping God while our focus is not on
Him but on His nemesis; the devil. Attending corporate prayers over a period of
not less than 7 years has helped me get a glimpse at how people pray. God
already knows what we need even before we ask Him and thus prayer must not be
reduced to petitioning God only. Petitions are only a small fraction of prayer (Philp 4:6).
An illustration would suffice here. If you go visiting a friend with the motive
of seeking something from them, you should be at least courteous enough to know
how they have been. You don’t just knock on somebody’s door and ask, “Can I have
a soft loan of twenty thousand?” You want to at least engage them in a chat to
find out about their welfare. But so many of us knock on God’s door and jump
straight away to our requests. Don’t forget that God is foremost pleased to see
you. He is more interested in you than anything else. Spend time with Him.
Taking it deeper, I have realised that some Christians spend
more time in their prayer talking more about the devil than God. Yes dear, you
heard me right. A prayer time of 10 minutes( which is too much for average
believers) is divided into 6 minutes asking for things, 3 minutes hitting on
the devil and about a minute or less adoring God. I should like to mention that
some will read this and ask, “What does adoring God entail?”
These are times when the devil is credited for more action
and less talk and God is lowered, in the subconscious minds of His children, to
more talk and less action. People see the devil at work more than they see God.
They ask questions like, “where was God when the devil…?” We see the evil in
the world and out rightly see the devil at work. When referring to the devil we
say, “The devil has done A B C D.” however, when we are talking about the
Almighty we say, “God says in His Word…” that way the devil is credited for
action and God for speech.
Surprisingly, even the messages we preach on the altar of
God are 70% or thereabout talking about what the devil has done and 30% about what God can
do, mark you, it is ‘can do’
We know God can do but we hardly say
that He has done it. We have very elaborate messages where we insist, “God can turn your tests into testimonies,
He can turn your mourning into
laughter, He can do so much and so
forth...” But we read a different script for the fallen angel, “he is roaming about like a roaring lion,
he has blinded…” Enough of this
ignorance! God has done so much yet He is credited for so little.
We need to come to a time and place where we look unto
Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith (Heb 12:2). It is only when we fix our eyes
on God that we shall see Him at work. You can’t be staring at the darkness the
entire time and hope to see what is happening in the light. I long for a time
that we can spend hours in prayer not because we have so many needs but because
we can’t get enough of our basic need: the holy trinity. The Bible says that we
should “make our petitions known.” This allows us to free our prayer time for
important things like intimacy with God. Sometimes I spend hours just
fellowshipping with the Spirit, the Son and the Father and only a few minutes
asking for my needs and making intercession. Those are the prayers that I receive
answer for with speed.
One of the weapons the devil will use against you is
attention. The devil would have you focus entirely on him and forget about God.
We, being ignorant of this, give him all the attention. We spend more time
thinking of how he has afflicted us, talking about his doings and praying
against him. When he sees this he smiles (am not sure if he can afford such a
tender expression) or grins at his accomplishment; he has us where he wants us,
thinking, talking and praying about him. Even as I write this article I feel
like I am giving him more attention than befits him but I can’t watch him cage
unsuspecting Christians anymore.
As I conclude, let me give this illustration. Whenever you
face temptation, it always comes in stages. Stage one is when the devil knocks
on your door: this is the best stage to overcome temptation. He either draws
your eye, ear, or mind to a tempting thing.
Stage 2 is where you answer the door. You look, listen or
allow your thoughts to be captured.
Stage 3 is when you start entertaining your visitor. You let
your mind wander off and be captivated by what you saw, heard or the thought
that entered your mind.
Stage 4 is when the ‘visitor’ starts destroying what is in
your ‘house’ and you let him. He will destroy your self-control, your patience,
and all your values before you wake up from the trance.
Stage 5 is guilt for having let him in.
You don’t fall into temptation because of what you saw or
heard or the thought that crossed your mind, you fall because of paying
attention. It is natural for people to knock on your door but it is foolishness
to entertain destructive guests. You can’t stop a bird from flying over your
head but you can certainly stop it from building a nest there. You better stop
paying attention to the devil. The first thing the devil will do in order to
trap a Christian is to have the Christian believe that he (the devil) can trap
him. The devil can’t hurt those who don’t pay attention to him. Stop giving the
devil so much credit.
So am I saying that you start pretending that the devil doesn’t
exist? Certainly not! You must be aware of his tricks and you must resist them.
Keep your focus on the saviour and not on the threat. The devil hates to be
ignored and he loves to be entertained.
If you missed any of the previous blog posts, click any of
the links below.
Prayer that yields negative results
Am I robbing God or is the Church robbing me?
I will never get married!
Maasai greetings
The missing link
Build the weight of your faith
Your future is bright
Make your past disappear
Why you should not look back
The stir
