Revelation 12:9 (NASB)
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

We celebrate the birth of the Son at Christmas, who came to take away the sins of the world. And we look forward to the day that Satan will be completely conquered, even though we know that the victory is now assured based upon the sacrifice of Jesus.

God has given us the ability to communicate, and as children of God he loves to hear our praises, thanksgiving and petitions. Until we see Him face to face though, we still live in a broken world, where we rely on the Holy Spirit to work in us and sanctify us each and every day.

While our salvation has nothing to do with anything we do, our sanctification is dependent on how we respond to the Spirit. Repentance is necessary for the sanctification of our souls. In earlier times, repentance was a key learning of the saints. I fear that repentance is often moved to a lessor importance in many churches today. It isn’t very joyful to think about our sins. And even less joyful to do something about them. Repentance, in many cases, has been reduced to “saying you’re sorry”. The great deceiver has reduced repentance to something that is now impotent. For when we only believe that it involves a few words, with no action behind it, it really has no impact on our lives.

Repentance, turning away from our sins, is a lot harder than just saying we are sorry. In fact, it is impossible without God’s help. And when we don’t actively work with the Spirit’s help to turn away from sins that He has revealed to us, our prayer life is also impotent.

Why would God answer our petitions, if we refuse to truly repent? I think we all know the answer is that He won’t.

Do you want your prayer life to be one where God amazes you with the answers he provides? I know I do. In order for that to happen, I’m going to have to actively, proactively, prayerfully, repent of those things the Spirit brings before me.

Always praying for the glory of God,