It is a letter that Screwtape (mentor) wrote to his young predecessor "wormwood", who is the demon in charge of this "Patient/human". The patient took a walk to an old mill that had sentimental value, and memories of his family from years ago. Wormwood allowed him to walk alone for a bit, and the patient ended up recollecting memories and at some point began to pray on this walk. This is what Screwtape is telling Wormwood in his letter, to teach him to never allow this to happen again for these reasons.
"As you have ought to have known, the asphyxiating cloud which prevented your attacking the patient on his walk back from the old mill, is a well known phenomenon. It is the Enemy's (God) most barbarous weapon, and generally appears when He is directly present to the patient under certain modes not yet fully classified. Some humans are permanently surrounded by it and therefore inaccessible to us"
Very interesting, even though this is CS Lewis' take on what happens in spiritual warfare I have a feeling it could possibly be just like this. As the patient began praying, screwtape mentions this phenomenon, as Gods most barbarous weapon. PRAYER. Just the image of this gives me chills to think about. To their eyes, we have a thick haze, or fog around us that they cannot penetrate. Its the power of God through prayer! Now that has to make you feel like praying if you haven't already started. I love the end when he mentions that some humans are permanently surrounded by this and it makes us inaccessible. They don't understand Love. They don't understand Gods Love for us and the freedom he has given us out of Love. There are certain things that they do not have a clue about, because only God does and he shares some of that with us. Prayer is a weapon, and prayer is so much more than a weapon, but prayer is communicating with our Father, a way to experience Him first hand, his Love, Grace, and Joy just to name a few. Its to listen, and to talk, to learn, and sometimes cry out to God when we are in need of his warming embrace.
Spurgeon wrote:
Yes, my Lord, I long, I pant to feel Thy love flaming like a furnace within me. Come Thou Thyself and excite the ardour of my spirit.
"For every drop of crimson blood
O wherefore, wherefore have not I
A thousand lives to give?"
Why should I despair of loving Jesus with a love as strong as death? He deserves it: I desire it. The martyrs felt such love, and they were but flesh and blood, then why not I? They mourned their weakness, and yet out of weakness were made strong. Grace gave them all their unflinching constancy—there is the same grace for me. Jesus, lover of my soul, shed abroad such love, even Thy love in my heart, this evening.
Humans, Faith is a big word if you really think about it, and look through the many scriptures that speak of it. Its big because its just huge! Faith is a huge part of our walk and every breath. When I am spending time with God and losing my pride, I certainly acquire more faith every time I pray. But then again, I use faith all of the time, but not faith in God all of the time. I still tend to have faith in myself, or faith in other things to help me get by. Its a stone I am climbing up slowly, and I will reach the top in having full and complete Faith in my Father.
If I was thrown in a Lions den tonight, you better believe I would be on my knees praying harder than ever. I would be asking the lions to just be my friend, and maybe if you let me out I can set up a nice big litter box outside my room for you and you could even sleep on my nice king size bed if you'd like. I'm putting my faith in the Lions! The difference here is, that Daniel didn't, he put his faith in the Lord.
Today is a good day. I am Loved to no end by my Father. I shall certainly rejoice and be very Glad in it.
Isaiah 41:10
Love Jared
I love this post.
ReplyDeleteI was reading in a book this week that the reason Jesus taught in parables and stories was because they did such a great work of hitting you in the heart. We believe things and learn things that affect us on a level we can relate to. Human to human stories.
Its amazing to think of Daniel and the Lions den....what an amazing picture of how effective our prayers can be. The story teaches us better than just hearing the words "God hears your prayers"