Power in Prayer

“In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare.

Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.” Ephesians 6:18 (MSG)

“Now I lay me down to sleep . . . God is great, God is good . . . Thank Thee for the night and the blessed morning . . .” are sweet prayers on the lips of children. But when life gets hard, and the stakes are high, rote prayer is insufficient.

As a young mother, two thousand miles away from home, I locked horns with the enemy and was engaged in a life and death tug of war for the survival of my marriage. Things had not been good for awhile, but I had no idea why. With our new change of duty station to another part of the country I had hoped that my military husband would find whatever was missing in his life. He’d been depressed and distant for months. Perhaps a change of scenery and the chance to meet new friends would be what he needed to pull his life back together.

We settled into our new community.

I found a job, found a daycare, school for the children and a church where we could worship as a family. Though he professed faith in Christ, when Sunday rolled around my husband almost always had a reason why he couldn’t attend so I would load the children in the car and we went by ourselves.

His mood lightened for a week or two, then the depression returned and he began, once again, to distance himself from us emotionally. One morning in mid-November I desperately prayed on my way to work, “God, I don’t know what’s going on in my marriage, but something is. I can’t fight an enemy I can’t see. I need you to bring whatever is going on into the light, even if it hurts to know.”

Six weeks later, my prayer was answered.

I knew without question what was wrong with my marriage. It was not the answer that I anticipated, but God knew that it was time for the lie my husband was living to be exposed. God held me close even though my world spun out of control.

This business of communicating with the Father is serious. As a sincere follower of Christ, prayer is a weapon best kept at the ready to be used in the spiritual warfare in which we are engaged. How is your relationship with Christ? Are you on speaking terms with Him? Do you share your innermost concerns and most intimate praises with Him? He is worthy, He is willing, He is ready to hear your heart.

Prayer: “Father, bind my heart with Yours Help me to turn my worries in to prayer; to trust You with that which most concerns my heart. Amen”