Satan's Temptation is to try to Make us Move

Watchman Nee brings out the important point that's Satan's main strategy is to get us to act and to do something that the Lord Jesus is not doing. He is trying to undermine our confidence in Him because he knows that when he has that he has everything. It's recorded in his message called "Surrendering" in the book The Overcoming Life.

The entire book is available at:

http://www.ministrybooks.org/watchman-nee-books.cfm

"Do you know what temptation is? One brother said that he was always tempted to lose his temper. Another brother said that he was always tempted to be stubborn. One brother complained that he was always tempted by unclean thoughts. Another brother complained that he was always tempted by a quick tongue. It seems that there are a thousand different kinds of temptations to a thousand different kinds of people. But brothers and sisters, there is actually only one temptation in the world. We think that temptations lead us to temper, pride, greed, or adultery. But with Satan, there is only one temptation--the temptation to move. Satan does not induce us to lose our temper or to be proud, greedy, or adulterous. His temptation is to make us move. As long as we move, Satan prevails over us. It does not matter how we move. As long as Satan becomes successful in initiating a move, we have failed. In our prayer and reading of the Bible, he has won the victory the minute we move. I only wish I could speak with many tears in my eyes. We should not move. The minute we move, we are defeated. We can struggle with Satan. We can fight with him or withstand him. But the minute we move, Satan has gained the complete victory. We have to realize that the secret to our victory lies in our standing by; it does not lie in our taking control. Once we try to manage the situation, we will fail. Brothers and sisters, this is a most amazing thing! God wants to set us aside and allow His Son to overcome for us.

"Galatians 5:17 says, 'For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these oppose each other that you would not do the things that you desire.' This verse does not say that we oppose our lusts or that our lusts oppose us. It says that the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. We do not play any part. These two parties are opposing one another. What does this mean? A brother once lamented that his only desires were sin and uncleanness. He could not help himself. But it is the flesh who is fighting against the Spirit, and the Spirit who is opposing the flesh. We play no part in this fighting. This is God's way of deliverance. If we can stand back and allow the Spirit to fight against the lusts and the lusts to fight against the Spirit, we will experience deliverance.

"When I was first saved, I heard a story about a young girl who knew the meaning of victory very well. During the Keswick Convention, a man asked the little girl how she overcame when the devil came to her. She answered, 'In the past, if the devil came to knock at my front door, as soon as he knocked, I would say, "Don't come in. Don't come in." But the result was always a failure. Now when the devil knocks at my door, I say, "Lord, You open the door for me." If the Lord opens the door, and the devil sees the Lord, he will say, "Sorry, I came to the wrong door," and he will run away.'

"When we are tempted and say, 'Lord, save me because temptation is coming my way again,' the devil will come in even before the door is open. We have to allow the Lord to handle the matter completely. The more we pray, the more desperate we become, and the more we repeat our prayer, the harder it is to let go. A brother once said that when Peter was sinking, he only said, 'Lord, save me.' Praying with a short sentence is letting go. But if one continues to pray, 'Lord, save me . . . ,' five or six times, he is already defeated. I call this kind of prayer a hangman's prayer. This is like a person who tries to hang himself a second and third time after having been unsuccessful the first time. When a person repeatedly prays this way, it shows that he has not let go. He is trying to grasp victory with his prayer. He is trying to overcome with his own strength. Invariably, the result is defeat. If he did not pray so much, he might still have overcome. Brothers and sisters, please remember that Satan is trying to make us move. As long as we move, even if it is by praying, he will have his way."