The Greatest Fight

DRAFT 01 – For Classroom Use Only Letter III *******  s Relationships, Prayer, Faith and Action Consistency of Life “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before us endured the cross” Heb 12:1-2

“The most useful human characteristic common among Christians and young revolutionaries is that they want to fix the world before they know much about it.” CSL T

His chapter focuses on prayer and domestic living. In prayer, Lewis here develops the distinction between “spiritual” prayer and “effective”. He describes how prayer can be “rendered  Elderly: adversity or innocuous” to the point of “keep on rubbing the wounds of the day a little sorer even prosperity while he is on his knees”. On domestic living we see the development of evil habits such as mutual annoyance, neglect of the obvious, and double standards, and Lewis shows  prosperity how a person can “turned at a moment's notice from impassioned prayer for a wife's or son's "soul" to beating or insulting the real wife or son without a qualm and beating or insulting a person without qualm.” Questions for Discussion 1. How can domestic irritations adversely affect the Christian / prayer life? 2. How does God work to bring a young Christian “under a new standard” 3. Why should we avoid concentrating our minds on the inner life? 4. How should we pray? 5. What are the habits Screwtape wants Wormwood to develop in his “patient” and why are they important? 6. What would be the “neglect of the obvious”? 7. How to combat “double standards”? 8. Considering what Lewis says about the patient’s mother, why are the son’s prayers too “spiritual”? 9. Discuss the problem of jealousy in connection with the reference to the “Enemy’s story” of the prodigal son at the end of the letter.

For Further Reading and Reflection Recommended Lewis) Final Thought: We should use God’s Word to guide us in how to act but, God can only teach us IF we recognize that even our conscience might give us trouble; We need a clear conscience! Ask God to clear our consciences Hb 9:14; Let our response be: Heb 10:22-23, II Cor 7:1, Let us pray we will not end up with seared consciences I Tim 4:2 Finally: Let us be faithful in little! Lk 16:10 “Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God”. II Co 7:1 Developing Virtue

Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do weEffective distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth … The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light

Prayer 1 DRAFT 01 – For Classroom Use Only of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. II Co. 4:2-4”

Strategy Matrix Area of Life Devil’s Advice God’s Way Observations, References Changes of Get in first Gradually from the centre to a new conduct Keep in touch with other family charges standard Prayer a. Keep the patient from the intention of a. Pray at all times, in the Spirit a. James 5:13-16; Eph prayer altogether 6:18 (at all times) b. Render it innocuous (easy and b. Pray at all times, in all situations, Romans 8:26 (The Spirit entertaining) Let him pray: all kinds of prayers with WILL, intercedes with groans) -Parrot like prayers, in devotional mood INTELECT, directly to the Lord b. Lk 18:1-8 (parable of the (no will or intelligence); thinking: (Peter at the sea) persistent widow); Mat =feeling is important =faith, in obedience, no 26:41 (Not fall into =position makes no difference repetition temptation); Matthew 6:7 -Pray spiritually with self examination =hidden, with bended knees (no vain repetition) avoiding the obvious -practical, for real issues (discern) Is 62:6-7 “give yourselves =in faith  peace (no no rest” Ro 12:12 “faithful interference) in prayer” Luke 11:1-11 -Avoid looking at “self” “the Lord’s prayer” Proverbs c. When praying for people: c. When praying for people: 30:8 “Keep falsehood and lies far” -Create an “imaginary person” -Take the plank out of your own c. Mt 7:1-5 “Do not judge”; -let it never flow in treatment for the real eye first, do not judge your neighbor Matthew 5:39 “right cheek, one -Turn the other cheek turn to him the other” d. result - Leave wrath to God Romans 12:19 “Do not = “prayer to insult” take revenge…God’s wrath” = rubbing the wounds … little sorer d. God’s peace will result d. Phil 4:4-7 (Gods peace ) Common -Dualistic approach: horror and neglect of -Integrated action ground and the obvious actions -Keep his mind on “inner” life and off the -Love your neighbor as yourself Mt 22:39 “Love your elementary duties neighbor as”; Dt 19:18 no Use: voice tone and moment (keep double “false testimony” against your standard) neighbor

Relationship -Neglect of the obvious -Love and understanding Ro 15:1-7 (accept one With Spouse, -develop domestic hatred with double -be as little children another); Matthew 18:3 Family standards (face value innocence)-Good and -Think of others more highly than “unless you change and settled habit of mutual annoyance, “Daily yourself become like little children” pinpricks” Habits to -Mutual annoyance -Effective prayer develop -horror and neglect of the obvious -No double standard Proverbs 11:1 “The LORD -prayer innocuous: spiritual, reminding of =no dishonesty abhors dishonest scales”; sins (save her soul) for a fictitious =sober judgment Romans 12:3 “think of yourself with sober judgment” character. =confess our sin Colossians 3:15 “you were -mind on “self examination” =we where called to peace called to peace. And be -double standards thankful”. I Jn 1:9 (confess -jealousy -Be thankful for all our sins)

“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

Final Thought: Ask God to clear our consciences Hb 9:14; Our response: Heb 10:22-23, II Cor 7:1, Let us pray we will not end up with seared consciences I Tim 4:2 Be faithful in little Lk 16:10

Running a race I Co 9:24, Heb 12:1

IN Faithfulness Rev 2:10

2 DRAFT 01 – For Classroom Use Only – as He is faithful II Th 3:3

MY DEAR WORMWOOD,

I am very pleased by what you tell me about this man's relations with his mother. But you must press your advantage. The Enemy will be working from the centre outwards, gradually bringing more and more of the patient's conduct under the new standard, and may reach his behaviour to the old lady at any moment. You want to get in first. Keep in close touch with our colleague Glubose who is in charge of the mother, and build up between you in that house a good settled habit of mutual annoyance; daily pinpricks. The following methods are useful.

1. Keep his mind on the inner life. He thinks his conversion is something inside him and his attention is therefore chiefly turned at present to the states of his own mind—or rather to that very expurgated version of them which is all you should allow him to see. Encourage this. Keep his mind off the most elementary duties by directing it to the most advanced and spiritual ones. Aggravate that most useful human characteristic, the horror and neglect of the obvious. You must bring him to a condition in which he can practise self-examination for an hour without discovering any of those facts about himself ,which are perfectly clear to anyone who has over lived in the same house with him or worked the same office.

2. It is, no doubt, impossible to prevent his praying for his mother, but we have means of rendering the prayers innocuous. Make sure that they are always very "spiritual", that he is always concerned with the state of her soul and never with her rheumatism. Two advantages follow. In the first place, his attention will be kept on what he regards as her sins, by which, with a little guidance from you, he can be induced to mean any of her actions which are inconvenient or irritating to himself. Thus you can keep rubbing the wounds of the day a little sorer even while he is on his knees; the operation is not at all difficult and you will find it very entertaining. In the second place, since his ideas about her soul will be very crude and often erroneous, he will, in some degree, be praying for an imaginary person, and it will be your task to make that imaginary person daily less and less like the real mother—the sharp-tongued old lady at the breakfast table. In time, you may get the cleavage so wide that no thought or feeling from his prayers for the imagined mother will ever flow over into his treatment of the real one. I have had patients of my own so well in hand that they could be turned at a moment's notice from impassioned prayer for a wife's or son's "soul" to beating or insulting the real wife or son without a qualm.

3. When two humans have lived together for many years it usually happens that each has tones of voice and expressions of face which are almost unendurably irritating to the other. Work on that. Bring fully into the consciousness of your patient that particular lift of his mother's eyebrows which he learned to dislike in the nursery, and let him think how much he dislikes it. Let him assume that she knows how annoying it is and does it to annoy—if you know your job he will not notice the immense improbability of the assumption. And, of course, never let him suspect that he has tones and looks which similarly annoy her. As he cannot see or hear himself, this is easily managed.

4. In civilised life domestic hatred usually expresses itself by saying things which would appear quite harmless on paper (the words are not offensive) but in such a voice, or at such a moment, that they are not far short of a blow in the face. To keep this game up you and Glubose must see to it that each of these two fools has a sort of double standard. Your patient must demand that all his own utterances are to be taken at their face value and judged simply on the actual words, while at the same time judging all his mother's utterances with the fullest and most oversensitive interpretation of the tone and the context and the suspected intention. She must be encouraged to do the same to him. Hence from every quarrel they can both go away convinced, or very nearly convinced, that they are quite innocent. You know the kind of thing: "I simply ask her what time dinner will be and she flies into a temper." Once this habit is well established you have the delightful situation of a human saying things with the express purpose of offending and yet having a grievance when offence is taken.

Finally, tell me something about the old lady's religious position. Is she at all jealous of the new factor in her son's life?—at all piqued that he should have learned from others, and so late, what she considers she gave him such good opportunity of learning in childhood? Does she feel he is making a great deal of "fuss" about it—or that he's getting in on very easy terms? Remember the elder brother in the Enemy's story,

Your affectionate uncle SCREWTAPE

3 DRAFT 01 – For Classroom Use Only

Lessons from an Apple Tree

In our neighborhood there grows an apple tree. Last fall, as I walk by with my Dalmatian, many times I wondered if I should offer myself to pick up the apples on the ground. Until one day, I talked to the owner of the house. She asked me if I had a Dalmatian, to which I replied: “yes!” She said, “It has chased away the dear who come and eat the apples…” I suddenly felt very much in the wrong; these apples on the ground had a purpose of which I was unaware…

In our perfectionist society, we have the tendency of wanting everything trim and proper. If we could, we would have even perfect trees: no wormy apples, all at the same size, not one rotting on the ground… We do not realize that in God’s creational eyes, where there is abundance, there is no want. Moreover, this abundance counts for all - man and dear, insect and fungi. A perfect circle of life, only disrupted by human egoistic, judgmental, perfectionists.

Our family and prayer life can take some corollaries from this example. Abundance in prayer, love and obedience to His Word, in a fallen world, does not ask for perfection but for constant renewal and persistence…Until that final day.