A Prayer to Move Position in the Battle against Sin
By Chris Eyte
"When David learned that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, 'Bring the ephod.” David said, “Lord, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me. Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? Lord, God of Israel, tell your servant.'
And the Lord said, 'He will.' Again David asked, 'Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?' And the Lord said, 'They will.' So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he did not go there. David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands." - 1 Samuel 23:9-14
The secret to David’s success in outwitting Saul and avoiding his wrath was simply moving ‘from place to place.’ The king wanted to destroy him but David relocated himself again and again so that he stayed out of harm’s way. He was active and not passive in dealing with the deadly situation. We can learn from David in our struggles with sin. He used movement to avoid danger. In the same way, we must employ movement to get out of “the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12).
That Hebrews passage exhorts us to “throw off everything that hinders.” Picture that throwing action in your mind. It’s a physical and very aggressive act. We need to be animated to kill sin in our lives - it won’t just happen to us. Even so, how do we find the power needed to do that? The answer is again to do with movement. Moving ourselves closer to God: James 4:8a says, “Come near to God, and he will come near to you.” This coming near to the Lord is a physical action.
The reason why we fail to walk faithfully is that we stay immobile and forget to be spiritually nimble. We stay on the chair and keep on watching the bad stuff on TV. We stand still with the group of ‘friends’ listening to the gossip. We linger near the cupboard where the whisky bottle is kept. We overspend our time online trying to build wealth empires instead of cutting off the internet and seeing the kids. We get lazy about our motives instead of putting our spiritual antenna up.
We have to change positions if we want to live victoriously. That’s what David did by moving constantly, physically pushing himself out of the way of harm. The Bible teaches us to draw close to God - that’s a literal action. Moving away from evil and moving towards God.
It means getting out of the armchair and away from rubbish on TV - leaving the house, taking a walk, and seeking God! Or saying ‘excuse me’ and physically stepping away from the gossipers. Or treading away quickly from the alcohol-filled cupboard and going to see a friend. Or turning off the internet immediately (not later) and giving time to the kids. Taking righteous actions immediately. Being active and not passive in living out our Christian faith.
Believers face many battles now that the war has been won by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And David, the shepherd boy-turned-soldier, illustrates how to win these little conflicts. Keep moving! Move to God, move away from temptation, move towards what is life giving and wholesome for the soul!
Let's pray:
Father of all compassion,
Thank you for grace. Thank you for your solid love, which upholds me. Please lead me by the Holy Spirit to be active in my walk with you. Help me to push towards you when I face challenges and give me the strength to pull away from the sin ‘that so easily entangles.’ I am your child and I trust you as you work in my life. You are my healer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Maudib
Christopher Eyte lives with his wife Céline and three children in Swansea, Wales, UK. He has worked as a journalist for many years and writes his own blog (hislovefrees.life) encouraging others in their walk with Jesus. He became a Christian in February 2002, after a friend explained God's amazing grace!
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Originally published Sunday, 09 June 2024.
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