Screwtape Letters - Week #8

How quickly a week passes! It's good to increasingly rest in the Lord's finished work and in that place of utter trust, we learn to be fully present to God and to one another each day. This is a lifelong journey into fullness and well worth making!

First this week I want to make short comments on Chapters 26 and 28:

• Chapter 26 is a wonderful look at living in the "flesh" and doing so in such a religious-looking way...
• Chapter 28 addresses the reality that what takes the most perseverance in life is the marathon of life ("The long, dull monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather. You see, it is so hard for these creatures to persevere").

Sandwiched between these two letters is a chapter (27) that gives focus to prayer, the means by which we truly know our Creator and Father; and in that intimate knowing, we are enabled to recognize the flesh (false self) at work in all its disguises, and we gain inner strength to persevere in the marathon, finishing well.

In the early part of the 27th letter, Screwtape instructs Wormwood of the importance of encouraging "false spirituality"; in other words, working at making the patient think that simple, petitionary prayer is not true prayer. If Wormwood can't succeed at keeping the patient from prayer that asks for his daily bread and for the recovery of the sick, then he is to try to arouse doubts on the grounds of happenstance about whether his prayers really are effective.

Lewis goes on to expound on how we humans understand time and how God is related to time. It's an intriguing look into how God can be a Sovereign God and yet allow humans to genuinely exercise free will. It also helps us understand why negative past events continue to influence us in the present unless God, Who lives in the "unbounded Now", heals and erases the effects of those events. Lewis says in another of his writings that time does not heal wounds, only God does that.

Lord, thank You for gracing and honoring us with the privilege of prayer through which we know and are known by You and experience Your healing touch. Come by Your Spirit and teach us to pray, and in that place of rest and dialogue with You, may we increasingly walk in the Spirit and find in You the endurance to run the race well to the end. We bless You with thanksgiving today!

Questions for this week's reading: Chapters 29-31

1. Note the final comment of Screwtape's Letter #29: "...the act of cowardice is all that matters; the emotion of fear is, in itself, no sin and, though we enjoy it, does us no good." What does that mean to you? Have you seen yourself as a coward because you felt afraid about something but went ahead and acted in spite of the emotion of fear?
2. The final letter (Chapter 31) is wonderful! It's about heaven and being in the presence of God Himself and the angels. What about that chapter may have spoken to you about God and the hope we have of heaven?

One more reminder that we'll move on to Henri Nouwen's In the Name of Jesus the first week of August. Next week I'll probably include a couple of questions on the Prologue and Introduction of the book. The Lord bless you this week as you find inner rest in His finished work!