Consider that Satan is a very great enemy to secret prayer.
Every Christian knows this to be true, right?! Thomas Brooks gives us more than a true statement. He helps us see deeper into this truth.
Here is: Thomas Brooks and Private Prayer – 23
Secret prayer is a scourge, a hell to Satan. Every secret prayer adds to the devil’s torment, and every secret sigh adds to his torment, and every secret groan adds to his torment, and every secret tear adds to his torment. When a child of God is on his knees in his secret addresses to God, oh the strange thoughts, the earthly thoughts, the wandering thoughts, the distracted thoughts, the hideous thoughts, the blasphemous thoughts, that Satan often injects into his soul! and all to wean him from secret prayer. There is no one thing that many hundred Christians have more sadly lamented and bewailed, as many faithful ministers can witness, than the sad interruptions that they have met with from Satan, when they have been with God alone in a room, in a corner. Oh! how often have they been scared, affrighted, and amazed by noises and strange apparitions, at least to their fancies, when they have been alone with God in a corner.
Sometimes he [Satan] tells the soul, that it is in vain to seek God in secret; and at other times he tells the soul it is too late to seek God in secret; for the door of mercy is shut, and there is no hope, no help for the soul. Sometimes he tells the soul that it is enough to seek God in public; and at other times he tells the soul, that it is but a precise trick to seek the Lord in private. Sometimes he tells the soul, that it is not elected, and therefore all his secret prayers shall be rejected; and at other times he tells the soul, that it is sealed up unto the day of wrath, and therefore a secret prayer can never reverse that seal; and all this to dishearten and discourage a poor Christian in his secret retirements. Sometimes Satan will object to a poor Christian the greatness of his sins; and at other times he will object against a Christian the greatness of his unworthiness. Sometimes he will object against a Christian his want of grace; and at other times he will object against a Christian his want of gifts to manage such a duty as it should be managed. Sometimes he will object against a Christian his former straitenedness in secret prayer; and at other times he will object against a Christian the small yearnings that he makes of secret prayer; and all to work the soul out of love with secret prayer, yea, to work the soul to loathe secret prayer; so deadly an enemy is Satan to secret prayer.
Oh, the strange fears, fancies, and conceits, that Satan often raises in the spirits of Christians, when they are alone with God in a corner; and all to work them to cast off private prayer. It is none of Satan’s least designs to interrupt a Christian in his private trade with God. Satan watches all a Christian’s motions; so that he cannot turn into his closet, nor creep into any hole to converse privately with his God, but he follows him hard at heels, and will be still injecting one thing or another into the soul, or else objecting one thing or another against the soul. A Christian is as well able to tell the stars of heaven, and to number the sands of the sea, as he is able to number up the several devices and sleights that Satan uses to obstruct the soul’s private addresses to God.
Now from that great opposition that Satan makes against private prayer, a Christian may safely conclude these five things:
There are obvious conclusions we can be sure of from Satan’s furious fight to keep us from the secret place of prayer. We’ll give them in next week’s blog post.
_____________________________
Brooks, T. (1866). The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks. (A. B. Grosart, Ed.) (Vol. 2, pp. 196–197). Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert.
Leave a Reply