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Devotion.In this episode of "Warfare Prayers," Pastor Crosby explores 1 Peter 4:7-11, emphasizing the urgency of making the most of our limited time by developing spiritual intelligence—discernment, wisdom, and watchfulness in daily prayer. Pastor Crosby explains how renewing the mind daily through God’s presence and Word, especially through daily devotion and Bible study, protects against deception and spiritual vulnerability. Listeners are encouraged to stay sober, alert, and grounded in faith, using their gifts to serve others and seek deliverance from the enemy’s schemes. The episode concludes with a daily prayer for wisdom and discernment to resist the enemy’s attacks and live purposefully for God’s glory.
📖 Bible Verses- "1 Peter 4:7-11": "00:00:34"
- "1 Peter 5:8": "00:03:00"
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Devotion Main Takeaways- Importance of making the most of limited time
- Spiritual intelligence defined as discernment and wisdom
- Urgency of living with purpose and spiritual alertness
- The role of prayer in maintaining spiritual vigilance
- The dangers of spiritual ignorance and deception by the enemy
- Daily renewal of the mind through God's presence
- The significance of being grounded in God's Word
- Examples from scripture, including the Israelites' lack of discernment
- The necessity of cultivating spiritual discernment
- The power of prayer for wisdom and discernment against evil
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Devotion Transcript00:00:00 Welcome to warfare prayers. The podcast where you will find guidance and strength for life's toughest battles. Here you'll be inspired and spiritually grounded through my daily devotions, discovering the power of deliverance and peace that comes from God's Word. Our series is centered around first Peter four and seven through 11, and we want to make the most of our time. And we talked about in the last episode, is that your time is limited and you must make the most of it. In our text today, Peter wants his audience who's suffering, who's going through persecutions. Peter wants them to realize that time is running out, and they must make the most of it. The Bible says in first Peter four and seven, let's read it. It says, but the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers and above all things. Have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling, as each one has received a gift, ministered to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
00:01:34 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. How do I make the most of the time that God has given me? Number one to make the most of your time. Brothers and sisters, I want to plant this in your mind, your soul and your spirit. You make the most of your time by being spiritually intelligent. Spiritually intelligent. We're talking about discernment when we say spiritually intelligent, Peter says, but the end of all things is at hand. Then he says, therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers, the terms serious and watchful in your prayers. This has to do with being sober. To be sober means to be mentally alert, thoughtful and sharp. The word intelligent is the mental capacity to learn, understand, reason, and adapt to new situations. Peter wants his audience to be spiritually intelligent.
00:03:00 That means to have spiritual Discernment and wisdom. He says, therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers. Why? Because the time is running out. God wants you to be spiritually sober and intelligent in your prayers. Here's the reason why. Because the devil, the enemy, hunts the spiritually unintelligent mind. He hunts the person that's not sober. This is why first Peter five and eight says this. It says, be sober. Be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. See? Who can the devil devour? The devil can devour a mind that is intoxicated by the influences of the world's philosophy, the world's latest trends. The world's desire to see. That is an intoxicated mind. It's an unintelligent mind. A spiritually unintelligent mind. Who can the devil devour? A mind that's not sober or mentally alert? A mind that's not spiritually sober or or mentally alert, sharp in the spirit? Who can the devil devour? A mind that lacks spiritual intelligence to discern, to understand, to adapt in the spirit? This is the reason, brothers and sisters, that every day you must renew your mind.
00:04:49 Now what does a renewed mind even look like? A renewed mind is when God restores you. He restores your mind. What does that look like? Let me bring this up again. A renewed mind Mine wants more of God. A renewed mind wants to fellowship. A renewed mind wants to pray. A renewed mind wants to worship. See, you cannot say you have a renewed mind, but you don't want more of God. When your mind is renewed, you want more of God's Spirit. And so every day to be spiritually intelligent. As you go about your journey, make sure that your mind is renewed. How is my mind renewed? By spending time in God's presence. It's spending time in his presence. The Bible says in his presence is the fullness of joy. When I'm in His presence, I have everything that I need. I have love, I have peace, I have patience, I have goodness, I have self-control, I have kindness, I have all of the fruits of the spirit.
00:06:00 I have his wisdom. I have his grace. My mind is renewed when I'm in his presence. See, the enemy wants to deceive you when you're out of his presence. The enemy wants to deceive you when you're tired. When you're lonely. When you're weak. He tried to deceive even Jesus. When he was hungry for 40 days and 40 nights. He tries to catch us when we are spiritually unintelligent. But to be spiritually intelligent, all it means is discernment. And discernment comes when I'm in God's Word and I'm in God's presence. When you're not in God's Word, you're not in God's presence. You're not making the most of your time. Understand? Brothers and sisters, the reason the Israelites went in circles for 40 years is because they didn't have spiritual discernment. They didn't have spiritual discernment to know that God was providing all of their daily needs, and they allowed the enemy to deceive them with fear, they allow the enemy to deceive them with. Wanting to go back to something that was no good for them.
00:07:12 And that was Egypt. Brothers and sisters, our first episode in making the most of your time is learning to be spiritually intelligent. This means to be sober. It means to have spiritual discernment. Let us pray. Father, in the matchless and powerful name of Jesus father, we pray for your wisdom to feel our minds. Give us eyes to see that we may be able to detect the voices of Satan in your voice. We may be able to detect angelic activities that come from heaven and demonic activities out of the pits of hell. Father, help us to discern what is holy and what is unholy, what is righteous and what is unrighteous, what is of light, and what is of darkness. That we may have spiritual discernment, that we may be spiritually intelligent to detect all of the wiles of the devil. So we pray that the Holy Spirit would empower us right now to learn, to understand, to reason, and to adapt to the things of the spirit. Father, we thank you right now, and we speak that it's already done.
00:08:39 Renew our minds right now that we may think your thoughts and meditate on your truths. In Jesus name we pray. We thank you, father. Amen.
