Crushing the Enemy Through Prayer

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: Crushing the Enemy Through Prayer
Keywords: “enemy”
Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation.

Passage: Psalm 13:1-6*

1. How long, O Lord? Wilt Thou forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?

2. How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

3. Consider and answer me, O Lord, my God;
Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

4. Lest my enemy say, "I have overcome him,"
Lest my adversaries rejoice when I am shaken.

5. But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

6. I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Questions

1. Have you ever felt like the psalmist evidently feels in verses 1-2? Have you ever viewed your struggle with Internet porn as an enemy who is continually having victory over you?

 

2. What strikes you most about the desperate prayer of the psalmist in verses 3-4?

 

3. This psalm, which began on such a down note, ends up happy? How do you think the psalmist’s sorrow was turned to joy?

 

Practical help

Enemies come in all shapes and sizes. Nations face enemy nations on the battlefield. Neighbors (unfortunately) sometimes do battle over picket fences. Physicians fight the enemies of cancer and disease, while police forces battle the enemy of crime.

One of the most pernicious enemies of the soul in our day is Internet porn. It exposes men and women to the most impersonal portrayals of the most personal acts. It desensitizes those who view it, damages those who engage in it, and demeans even those who produce it.

You may be one of those men (or women) who have been stuck in a porn viewing mode for a long time, prompting you to think as the psalmist does in Psalm 13, that God has forsaken you and given you over to your enemy (porn).

Don’t you believe it!

God is as close to you as He was to David, who wrote this six verse song. David found encouragement when he cried out to God with a desperate plea for help. A man who felt beaten down, discouraged, and forsaken ends up rejoicing and singing for joy "because [God] has dealt bountifully with" him.

God meets men and women in their desperation. He restores joy and hope to those who cry out to Him. Follow the example of David in this psalm, and have a hand in crushing the enemy of porn!

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."