Prayer is important to me. It always has been. Even when my heart was hard, my faith was lacking, and I chose not to pray, I knew it was important. During that season of darkness, my husband remained faithful and prayed over us daily. I am so incredibly thankful for his strength to do this and I believe God heard my husband’s prayers, reconciling us and restoring our marriage.
Although I have always viewed prayer as vital and believe there is power in prayer, I am usually wishing there is more I can do, whether in my marriage or for others. I pray and ask that God’s will is done, but I also have an ache to do more. This way of thinking can be dangerous as it can lead to thoughts that maybe prayer isn’t enough.
What more can I do? Should I do? Need to do?
These questions may be important as well, because searching for these answers God could definitely guide me to do more with the resources and discernment He has gifted to me. However, I must NEVER EVER forget this one thing…
Prayer is the battle!
As we live in the flesh, most of the times we want to be able to fix things in the flesh. Yet, Ephesians 6:13 states,
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.
Meaning, so much of what is happening is a result of the very real spiritual warfare happening. So we can not approach the growing terror and atrocity of evil in this world, the brokenness of marriage, or even confront our insecurities without prayer! Prayer is our shield for defense and our weapon of offense.
This is a more recent discovery that was unveiled by my friend and agent Matt Jacobson who sat across the table at lunch the other day as my husband and I expressed our desire to pray more and do more. His words swirled inside of my heart, motivating me to grasp again the importance of prayer. He stopped us to ask,
Do you see prayer as preparation for the battle or do you see it as the battle?
Then he followed up with this quote by Leonard Ravenhill,
Prayer is not a preparation for the battle; it is the battle!
Our ability to discern a situation and then have intimate access to cry out to God is one of the most valuable and powerful ways we can help ourselves and others.
Prayer is our shield for defense and our weapon of offense.
You are equipped for the battle, whatever battle you are facing, through the power of prayer! We MUST pray without ceasing. And when we feel the urge to do more, yet God has not directed our steps to do something specific, we must remain faithful to prayer.
Here are a list of things I am praying for:
- Salvation for those who do not know Christ.
- The Conflict in Israel and protection of people’s lives.
- The Terrorism of ISIS, that it disbands and ends, and protection over people’s lives.
- Rescue of women and children entangled and trapped by human trafficking.
- Reconciliation for marriages being attacked and for people to understand God’s design of marriage.
- Growth and maturity in my own marriage relationship.
- Being bold in conversations in sharing what God wants me too.
These are just a few of the things I have felt a swell of urgency to pray over and I invite you to pray with me in faith. Cry out to God and ask that His will is done. I want to encourage you to embrace the importance of prayer and to see it as the battlefield. Wars are raging daily and we must be on guard, or else the enemy will take us down one by one. Pray and never stop praying!
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. – Ephesians 6:18
Also, I would love it if you add to this list in the comments below. Let us all stand in unity and fight the good fight with faithful prayer.
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