battleground

*This is an excerpt from Oh My Soul: Encountering God in Honest, Unconventional (and Sometimes Messy) Prayer, available on Amazon and everywhere books are sold.

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You’ve probably seen the headlines, too. They’ve been pretty much the same for the past several weeks, only louder, larger, and more looming.

Ebola. ISIS. Spongy borders. Other illnesses. Other enemies.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

– Ephesians 6:12-13, ESV

battleground: standing firm in the struggle

Sometimes it’s all I can do just to keep our kids from throwing things at each other; I really have a hard time wrapping my mind around the bigger, broader issues outside my door. And I feel guilty, even, for praying for what seem to be comparatively small needs in our home when there are immensely huge things happening out there. It feels like we have to choose, and it feels urgent, and what if something tragic is happening to issue B while I’m still praying over issue A?

That’s just me. You are probably far more calm and level-headed about all this.

But I find myself slipping into this anxiety over prayer – which is really ridiculous, since that is the opposite of what prayer really does – and it takes me a while to realize that it’s just another slimy ploy of the enemy to make what is productive and powerful seem burdensome and impotent.

And that’s a lie.

Like most lies, and like most doubts, it is a half-truth.  It’s true that terrible things are happening all over the world and we can’t possibly pray over all of them at once with the proper urgency to pick them all off one at a time, as though we were playing some sort of spiritual Galaga or whack-a-mole.

But God is not limited to our time frame, either. Otherwise, He would be limited to making us take our turns so he could listen and respond to us one at a time, which sorta defeats the point of praying without ceasing.

If you picture Time as a straight line along which we have to travel, then you must picture God as the whole page on which the line is drawn. We come to the parts of the line one by one: we have to leave A behind before we get to B, and cannot reach C until we leave B behind. God, from above or outside or all round, contains the whole line, and sees it all.

– C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The enemy is a liar who is afraid of God’s people praying. He will do whatever he can to convince us not to do it, which is a very good reason to do it without ceasing.

And this isn’t neat and pretty – I’ve been sick for eight days and have strict orders to get to bed before, oh, 2 am tonight – but there’s one more thing I want to share before I go there, before we wake up to more headlines in the morning, before we feel overwhelmed by the struggle. It’s from the story of Perseus in Greek mythology (and if you have qualms about studying ancient myths, please consider this and this), when he was first given a glimpse of the calling on his life, before he saved lives and slew monsters:

But to the souls of fire I give more fire, and to those who are manful I give a might more than a man’s. These are the heroes, the sons of the Immortals, who are blest, but not like the souls of clay. For I drive them forth by strange paths, Perseus, that they may fight the Titans and the monsters, the enemies of Gods and men.

– Charles Kingsley, The Heroes

Oddly, I feel that it is for us, too. We are the children of God, we are the blest, we are the souls of fire. We are those who do not shrink back.

Lord, our country is in dire need of You tonight. Give our leaders wisdom and repentance; make them go back and regain ground lost due to foolishness and error; we pray for the safety of towns and cities and homes on our borders. We pray for healing for the sick and peace for the scared. We pray for health and joy in our families and protection over our churches.

Our nations are at a pivotal moment, and your prayers – for small things, for big things – make a difference. He hears and moves because your prayer is powerful and productive. Keep going, and pray from victory, not fear. Years from now, we will look back on these days and know that we saved lives and slew monsters through relentless intercession.

without ceasing button

This is day 9 of Without Ceasing: 31 Days of Relentless Prayer. Find the other posts here. To get new posts right in your inbox, subscribe here.


Comments

battleground — 6 Comments

  1. Oh this resonates with me. It’s my very favorite post. This prayer puts into words all the things whirling around in my brain, things which I don’t have one moment to sort out “properly”….but then, that’s a lie, isn’t it. The only “proper” thing is to lift up. I’ll let Him do the sorting.

  2. amen…there is so much power in prayer…and you are right do not let fear grip you for that would make the enemy so happy..instead continue to pray for our leaders and against the attacks of the enemy. Praying you get rest and in that healing as well.

  3. I wish I could reach through the computer and hug you all the way from Georgia. I feel the same pull, and fear, and overwhelmed-ness. But you are right–we have been made to save lives and slay monsters. Thanks be to God!

I love to hear your thoughts.