While Jesus was teaching His disciples as revealed in the Book of Matthew chapter five, He said ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot (vs 13)‘. The word ‘loses its saltiness’ in the NIV, is from the Greek rendering ‘mōrainō’ (mo-rah`-ee-no).

It means to be foolish or act foolishly, it also means to make flat and tasteless. If you read the pre-text and post-text, Jesus was admonishing His disciples to lead an exemplary kind of life. That is why He said in verse 14 ‘A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid’. Hence, how foolish it is for he who is meant to be an example unto fellow believers and an implement in God’s hand to draw men to Himself has not lost his sense of purpose. How did you get here? This series will address all of that and help you come to the knowledge of God’s plan and purpose; in case you have strayed out of that path. Jesus said to His disciples ‘Watch and pray…’ (Mat 26.41).

What does it mean to watch and pray? Or pray and watch (as we would see in our subsequent series)? The word used here for watch is ‘grēgoreuō’ (gray-gor-yoo’-o). It means to give strict attention to, be cautious, active. It also means to take heed lest, through remission and indolence, some destructive calamity suddenly overtake one. It means to be vigilant. We would dive more into this passage, but first, I would like us to look at an account from the Book of Nehemiah.

“When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble —burned as they are?… So, we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their hearts. But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” 

Nehemiah 4.1-3, 7-9 (NIV).

Pay close attention to the verse 9. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat. These people fought actual battles physically, hence the need to have watchmen at the gate of the city wall. But when Christ came, He showed us a more excellent way.

That is why the Apostle Paul could say that we don’t wage war as the world does. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal (see 2 Cor. 10.3-6). This is the plan of the devil for your life. He is happy that you are negligent when it comes to you growing up spiritually. He is happy you are not as prayerful as you used to be. He is happy you don’t have the time for Bible study. He is happy keeping you in the position of ignorance and feelings of defeat.

But when God’s word comes to you saying ‘Son! Begin rebuilding your broken walls’ the devil becomes alert. Before he was relaxed and not perplexed because he thinks he has you already in his corner, but now he is agitated. He knows he has no hold on you once that wall of prayer is erected. He knows he has no hold on you once that wall of service to God is erected.

So, what does he do? He begins to fight for the walls not to be rebuilt. He throws more distractions in your path, so you would not be focused on building those walls that will keep him out. Oh! how powerless the devil is, he takes delight in men who are weak but runs from men who know how to stand their ground in the place of prayer. Hence, we must watch and pray.

While you are rebuilding your broken walls of prayer, your broken walls of devotion to the Father, you ought to set yourself on the wall as a watchman. Prayer keeps you alert, so you don’t sleep off while you are supposed to be watching.

To be continued…

Eromose R. Moses

Eromose R. Moses is a minister at Edify Ministry, the author of Before You Say – I Do and Life as a Teenager – The Foundation. His writings are devoted to building young people to leading a successful life in relationships, personal development and fellowship with God.