We cannot do the devil’s will and pray at the same time.  Every minute we spend in prayer is a minute we are doing something the devil does not want us to do.  On the other hand, God loves to hear from us.  The Bible is filled with passages encouraging us to pray.  Paul was especially active in exhorting brethren to pray.  You will find him urging brethren to pray in almost all of his epistles.

To the saints at Thessalonica, he simply said, “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

To the brethren at Colossae, he wrote, “Continue steadfastly in prayer” (Colossians 4:2).

After encouraging the saints at Ephesus to put on the whole armor of God, he continued by writing, “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Ephesians 6:18).  

To the church at Philippi, he said, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).

Why was Paul so adamant about praying?  It was because he knew that it is a key ingredient in defeating the devil.  Jesus told His disciples to pray that they enter not into temptation (Matthew 26:41).  Nothing can stop temptation like the power of prayer.  Whenever you are tempted to do something the devil wants you to do, but you know God does not want you to do it, pray, and watch how prayer can conquer any temptation.  Better yet, pray about things you might be tempted to do before you find yourself amid temptation, and that will greatly benefit you as well.  Prayer has the power to quell any temptation.

Another reason the devil does not want us to pray is that he knows that we are never closer to God than when we are praying.  It is in prayer that we best draw near to God.

Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)
¹⁶  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

There is not anything about this Satan likes.  While we can make application of this verse to praying in general (because every time we pray we are drawing near the throne of grace),  The context points to praying when we need God’s help, particularly when we sin.  The setting just before ver. 16 has the writer of Hebrews introducing Jesus as our great high priest.  It is through Him, our mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), that we have bold access to God.  Why?  Because His sacrifice and shed blood opened the way for us to enter the presence of God through prayer (Hebrews 10:19-22).  Now when we sin, we have His help (1 John 2:1).

Through repentance and prayer, with the help of our advocate by our side, we receive mercy and find grace to help us when we need God’s forgiveness (Acts 8:22).  Does the devil want us to take advantage of this?  Of course not!  He wants us to wallow in sin when we stumble.  Do not do what the devil wants you to do.  Take advantage of the mercy and grace of God through prayer to maintain fellowship with God (1 John 1:9).

Prayer is powerful.  It helps prevent us from sinning and gives us a way of escape when we do.  Let us do exactly what Satan does not want us to do.  Let us pray without ceasing.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.