Prayer and warfare
Today’s entry is powerful. I’m so impacted by the reminder that prayer for an unbeliever is the most effective thing I can hope to do to win them to Christ.
I was just in a conversation with someone who said that one day, she felt led to pray for an aunt who is heavily involved in the new age movement. The next day, that aunt initiated contact with her after years of barely keeping in touch.
I get lulled into complacency when it comes to praying for the unsaved people in my life. My thinking is so focused on their free will that I forget all about the spiritual battle raging just out of sight, and the impact that it has in the world we can see.
Prayer is absolutely about dependence. Neil’s points were that prayer is expressing to God my dependence on Him, that God is more ready to act on my behalf than I am to ask for His help, and that until I get to that place of turning over control, God may not act. Crazy stuff; totally profound.
And then the Holy Spirit steps in to pray on my behalf when I just don’t know what to pray… I love that! It’s as if God is saying, Pray your best, but since you won’t do it perfectly all the time, I’ll cover you! God’s amazing in the ways He cares for us… He gives us every resource at His disposal to keep us close to Him. I’m amazed.
Michele, great word picture regarding the Holy Spirit being given to cover us. Here at work, we have a concept called "Contact & Cover". One officer is the "contact" officer and does all the talking and handling of a subject in the field. His/her partner is the "cover" officer. The "cover" officer's sole purpose during a field situation is the security and safety of the "contact" officer. Today this is tragically pointed out in the shooting of a LASD deputy who was shot last night by a suspect. The "contact" deputy went down and his "cover" deputy shot the bad guy.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome picture of the Holy Spirit being assigned by Jesus himself to be our "cover" partner. When we don't know what we don't know, our "cover" partner sees it and takes care of it! I love that!
I also was deeply moved by Neil's statement that "He is more ready to meet our needs than we are to ask." That blows me away. It creates the picture in my mind of the Father sitting on the edge of His throne, legging shaking in eager anticipation to provide for us.
Father, forgive me for being lazy in prayer. Holy Spirit, stir up in me a heart that longs for the moments of the day I can still away and talk to the Father.
I am thankful that the Holy Spirit intervenes for me when I am unable to pray perfectly, sometimes not even close. I sometimes struggle knowing what to pray for, I know God hears my prayers and He faithfully answers them, but sometimes I feel like it is not enough. I want to say the right words and not get tangled up in my own words. I am glad to be reminded that the prayer part is what is important not so much what I say.
ReplyDeleteThe Parable of the Persistent Widow comes to mind, she kept coming back and asking. Even someone who does not believe in God will listen to this widow to get her to stop coming back to bother them.
Just keep praying
"God knows what we need in our battle with the powers of darkness, and He is more ready to meet our needs than we are to ask. But until we express our dependence on Him in prayer, God may not act." "Prayer is a means by which God guides and protects His children." "Fervent prayer thwarts Satan's activity like nothing else."
ReplyDeletePrayer is an incredible weapon of spiritual warfare that I want to use effectively. First, I want to pray "Having or displaying a passionate intensity" for the people and situations I am dealing with in life. Second, prayer helps me to continue to allow Jesus to "Take the wheel" of my life and guide me in the best possible path. Lord, help me to be passionate, persistent, and continually speaking to you about all things in my life!