When my Creative Writing professors taught me the following principle, they didn't know they were teaching me a spiritual lesson, but let me share it with you. It has been said that the secret to powerful writing is to write about what you absolutely think you can't reveal--to be honest to a point that terrifies you. That's how you unlock magic on paper. When you face your truest self and draw your sword. This has resonated with me because I believe this is a principle that is missing from our prayer lives. When we pray about what terrifies us most, when we expose our ugliest selves to the Lord, that's where we unlock freedom. Don't you find it interesting that Satan is called both the "accuser" and the "father of lies" (Zechariah 3, John 8:44)? As long as he's got you convinced that your dirty little secret is too horrific, too damning to bring to the Lord in prayer, then he's got that as a weapon against you. There should never be a 'secret' between you and Satan, you and yourself, you and your ex, you and anybody that you can't bring to Jesus in open-handed prayer. Let me explain this with an analogy. Girls, raise your hands if you have ever dated a jerk. Boys, raise your hands if you've ever been a jerk boyfriend. When a guy has dishonorable, selfish, or downright destructive intentions, who's the last person he wants reading his text messages or watching over his shoulder? The girl's dad. Why? Because if the dad's worth anything he'd take action. Why don't we get this as Christians? The second we feel Satan trying to accuse us, trick us, trap us, harass us, we should be sprinting to the feet of our Heavenly Father to ask about it! Is this true of me, Father? Is this what my worth is? Am I stuck in slavery to this sin? Am I really what the enemy is saying I am? Through prayer and Scripture, Jesus blows the cover off of Satan's schemes and tells us the Truth! Haven't you heard that the "truth will set you free" (John 8:32)?!

There are numerous verses in Scripture that tell us who we are in Christ. We are new creations (2 Cor. 5:17), we exist for the glory of God (Galatians 2:20), we are His children (1 John 3:1), the objects of His unlimited love (Ephesians 1:3-14), we are not created for sin (1 Corinthians 6:13-15), we are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6:6, 14), we are covered with the blood of Jesus, and His righteousness has been credited to our account (Romans 4:23-25)! When Satan tries to beat on you with false accusations, Scripture is your ammo against him! The "armor of God" in Ephesians chapter 6 consists of one offensive weapon-the rest is defensive armor. The weapon is the Word of God-Paul calls it our "sword" (Ephesians 6:17). Do we slay non-believers with it? NO. We slay the demonic powers and the sin in our hearts. Scripture is the inerrant Word of God and we've GOT to start believing its power!

But what if Satan sneaks up and accuses us with truth? Real things we've done, real things we've thought, real things we've desired? Where is our cover then? If we're in Christ, our cover is the blood of Jesus! The same Scriptures apply in this case. We know who we are in Christ because He tells us. If we believe Jesus at all, we have to believe that our sins are no longer counted against us! It takes courage to count on that kind of grace. But listen to me-if we are too afraid to stand under the promises of God because we think our sin is too big, or too vast, then we're ignoring the words of God and believing that Satan's accusations have the true authority. If that's the case, then it doesn't matter what we say we believe-we're rejecting God and accepting Satan's words as truth. We're believing that he's god. Doesn't that scare you? To think that we could unknowingly be putting our trust in someone we claim to hate.

If we're going to be effective, we've got to believe what we preach. We've got to be strong and courageous in Jesus Christ as God. We've GOT to know Scripture, we've GOT to hide ourselves completely in Christ and His promises and we've GOT to stop being afraid of our doubts. Non-believers are looking at us, waiting for us to cave and admit that we really don't buy this stuff either. Is that the Christianity of the Bible? Is that what Jesus bled Himself dry for? A superficial religion that doesn't hold its weight? Brothers and sisters, believe me, I've been a slave to fear all of my life, and I have given Satan the upper hand too many times. But I'm done being a doormat. I want to see Jesus move, I want to be a part of what He's doing. Satan can't steal our salvation, but he darn well is going to try his best to make us roll over and stop trying while we're still here. If you're struggling with doubt, or confusion, or identity, or filthy desires, or sin, or guilt, or anything else under the sun, trust Jesus enough to bring those things to Him in prayer. Read the Word. Ask Him to set you free from lies and sin. Give yourself completely to God-He already knows how ugly our hearts are. He knew it before He gave His life for them-that's why He gave His life! He knew how despicable I was before He offered me salvation, before He began to change me. Doesn't hearing that make your heart leap? "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18).

I want to leave you with one last snippet from the Holy Scriptures. A charge, if you will, for us as we press on in our faith. "Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do" (1 Peter 1:13-15). King Jesus is so good, City Church.