Cover Your Teammate!

This morning, as I watched my wife back out of the driveway on her way to work, it occurred to me that I’d just completed probably the most important work I’ll do this day: I'd prayed over her.

We’ve developed a little ritual we go thru every weekday morning: I sit on the doorsill of her car as she sits behind the wheel, I put my arms around her and I pray.

First, I thank Him for the day and the opportunities it holds. I thank Him for her, this gift He’s given me – my partner, my ‘battle-buddy’.

Then, I pray for her physical safety; specifically that God will protect her from evil, harm, and sickness.

I pray that God will give her wisdom, strength, courage, and grace as she deals with people and situations. I pray she’ll have the ears to hear His voice and be able to feel His presence.

Lastly, I ask that He return her to me safe and sound at the end of the day.

It occurred to me one morning as we were running late and both tempted to forego the prayer, how urgently I felt the necessity to do it.

So, I think I’m beginning to better understand one meaning of the word ‘faith’: I believe, if I don’t make this prayer over her, bad things may happen to her. And, this must mean I believe my prayers are both effective and important. They are critical to the day.

That is one way to have faith in the power of prayer.

Now, I know God is mission-oriented and, if it’s necessary for the accomplishment of the mission, He’ll take her or allow her to be taken (1). So, what I’m praying for is protection from harm caused by others, whether willful or accidental, and from our enemy, Satan. But, I put her in God’s hands for Him to do with her as He must.

I’m not completely altruistic here. No, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m praying for my own benefit as well as hers. I cannot imagine my life without her and I’m asking to be spared that pain as long as possible. Just being honest.

Friends, it’s a dangerous world out there. There are enemies, physical and spiritual we need to be on guard against. We often do a credible job of providing for our family's physical safety. Do we do a good job of interposing our faith, our shield, between them and our spiritual enemy?

We do have an enemy who prowls about, looking for a weak spot in the armor, for someone who has wandered outside the shield-wall, or who doesn’t have his guard up. Elsewhere, I’ve desribed the dividing line between the physical and the spiritual as 'thin'. Now, I’ll put it more strongly: there is NO line between the physical and spiritual worlds. Our physical world is surrounded by the spiritual, just as our Earth sits in space. It’s there; we just can’t see it (2).

Do you believe in the power of your prayers? Do you believe your part in the fight may be critical to the outcome?

After World War II, S.L.A. Marshal wrote a controversial book, still disputed, titled ‘Men Against Fire’. In it, Marshal said that fewer than 25% of the men in actual combat fired their weapons. He also concluded this: The more firepower the man had at his disposal (therefore the more important the weapon was to success), the more likely a man was to fire. So, an automatic rifleman was more likely to fire than a rifleman and a machine gunner more likely to fire than both.

I would not be surprised if SLAM’s conclusion turned out to be true, because I see the same dynamic at work in the church. People that don’t believe their weapons [prayers] are effective or necessary to the outcome of the battle are not as likely to use them (except in self-defense) as are those aggressive warriors who have a sense of mission.

One might be tempted to divide the two groups above into those that have seen their prayers answered and those who have not. That may be an accurate way to state the result, but it places the blame on God. To get to the reason why, I would take it down to a more fundamental separator:

There are those who have faith, and there are those who don’t.

If you’re in that second camp, I encourage you to choose to believe right now that your prayers are urgently needed for victory (3). Just say the words. That’s a start. Ignore those pastors and teachers who say you’re not needed. You are. It IS true that, in one sense of the word, God doesn’t need you to fight his battles. He could say the word and Satan would cease to exist. No, I’ll go further; God could simply stop thinking about Satan and he would cease to exist.

The truth is that God has chosen to work through people like you and me and he gave us physical attributes because there’s a physical component to the war being waged in the heavens as I write these words.

The foundation for my strength is Jesus Christ and what was accomplished through his death and resurrection. If you're a Believer, you know the war has been won and there's no doubt as to the outcome. If you're a Believer, then you know your salvation is certain.

Believers, we still have fights to wage.

Get out of that foxhole, get off your spiritual butt and get in the fight. Protect your teammate. She’s depending on you.

Strength and Courage.
Steve

(1)The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything [Job] has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Job 1:12 (NIV)

(2)‘And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.’ 2 Kings 6:17 (NIV)

(3)Even then, we must remember that they may not be answered to our short-term satisfaction. The mission comes first. God’s will be done.