We are a little over a month into the new year! 2012 started out to be pretty crazy for me, with a mini-term class before the regular semester started and preparations for an award banquet my organization was hosting. In the midst of everything, God has been continuing to mold and shape me. Now that we are a month in, here is one of the lessons He has been teaching me.
The theme of prayer seems to have come up an awful lot lately. This is already an area that God has breathed His new life into, starting when I was in Italy the summer of 2007. It seems that everywhere I turn in 2012, prayer is being referred to as our strongest weapon in the spiritual battle in which all believers are engaged. In my mini-term class we talked about prayer as “rebellion against the status quo”. The status quo is that Satan has dominion and lives are broken in our fallen world. Our rebellion through prayer is to say, “Lord, this is not what You want! Help us bring light to the darkness, reveal Yourself as the Ultimate Victor in this situation”.
A friend recommended a book to me last week called Wrestling Prayer: A Passionate Communion with God by Eric and Leslie Ludy. This book is stretching my image of sitting sweetly in the pew with my hands folded and eyes closed. Eric is doing most of the writing and he is using the heroes of the Old Testament and their literal battles to show how we as believers are to approach prayer. It is a battle against Satan and unlike most battles, we know that God is the winner! How often do we as Christians admit defeat without putting up much of a fight? I am only in the beginning of this book and it has given me lots to think about.
Just this morning I read a short devotion on prayer that I happened upon in a newsletter as I was opening the office mail. Do you think God might be trying to tell me something? Here is the devotional for you to ponder along with me:
How Much Do You Love Your World? by Wesley Duewel
Of all the rivers of living water that Jesus wants to flow from your innermost being (John 7:38), surely the first and greatest is love. God is love, and children of God must be children of love.
Have you seen people whose love seems to flow continually? They are spiritually powerful, the ones who like John lean on Jesus’ chest, the Christlike.
There are three ways to overcome any opposition, penetrate any darkness, and win any victory for Christ- prayer, faith and love. Satan cannot combat that kind of spiritual warfare. God’s love through you can be so supernatural that Satan will have to flee.
The Holy Spirit exists to pour God’s love into and through your heart to others (Romans 5:5). Heaven knows no more powerful plea from earth than tears of loving prayer. He who wept over Jerusalem weeps over earth’s millions today.
Do you share that depth of love? God so loved the world that He paid a great price. How much do you love your world? Prove it!
A Heart Like His 