Be Alert!

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Then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober (1 Thessalonians 5:6, NASB1995).

The Biblical word for “alert” means to watch, be vigilant, and stay awake. Have you ever said, “I didn’t notice,” or “Why didn’t I see that coming,” or “I wish that I had known this earlier.”

Being “alert” is a biblical discipline, often used in context with the end times, attacks by Satan, and prayer. 

Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake [alert] (Revelation 16:15, NASB1995).

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8, NIV).

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2, NASB).

Awareness for readiness, spiritual warfare, and prayer is a discipline honed by practice. Many of us can be Biblically illiterate, with wandering minds, lacking sensitivity to the spiritual warfare surrounding us. 

What can we do? I would suggest the following.

1. Ask the Spirit to give us sensitivity! The first thing in the development of any discipline is asking God for grace. We will progress and then fail. Learning to forgive ourselves and beginning again with a fresh infilling of the Spirit enables lifetime disciplines.
2. Learn the basics. When I first began riding my bike, a wizened cyclist told me, “Just keep spinning (going on rides) regularly. It will seem difficult at first, but it will get easier as it takes a year for the arteries and veins in your legs to develop for peak performance. Remember, just keep spinning.” Prayer is the “spinning” of alertness, and the more we pray, the more attuned we become.
3. Look for opportunities. Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:15-16a, NIV). Noticing opportunities trains alertness. 

Recently, while watching my grandson play basketball in a tournament, he brought the ball up the court and quickly passed it through two defenders to an open teammate under the basket for an easy layup. Watching from the stands, I didn’t notice the open player; so much for my alertness.

But I do watch for opportunities to speak words of grace, give money, and for unique ways to serve. When we are faithful in noticing small things as a sign of obedience, it creates the awareness, fortitude, and faith for ever-increasing assignments.

4. Feel Peace! I can’t say this enough: as I’ve grown in the Lord, the actual feeling of peace in my spirit has become a principal guide for alertness. If something is amiss in my spirit, I know to be cautious. This isn’t some type of Star Wars® “feel the force” mysticism but actual communication from God’s Spirit to my spirit.

Recently, I had a business opportunity. It looked good on the surface, but as I spoke with the person involved, I noticed inconsistencies in his conversation that took away the peace in my spirit. After that, it was an easy “no”!

Dallas Willard, in his book Hearing God, opens chapter one with this quote…

There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it; yet I do not advise you to do it from that motive. It is not pleasure which we ought to seek in this exercise; but let us do it from a principle of love, and because God would have us.

Amen. Let’s listen; let’s be alert!