We Are In A War Whether You Like It Or Not

I was in a men’s prayer one night and I felt the urge to pray for one of the men there. This man had a son in the war in Iraq and it was a difficult time for him and his family. Now I’m not one to go around doing these kinds of things but this night I felt a strong conviction to do so. My plans were to go over to him, lay my right hand on his shoulder, kneel next to him and pray this powerful, spiritually-scripted prayer that would encourage even the dead – or so I thought. I gathered enough courage to go over there and pray with him but I did not anticipate what happened next.

As soon as my hand touched his shoulder, I felt this overwhelming compassion for this man and began weeping uncontrollably! It was as if his pain was transferred to me and I was able to relate for a moment with his situation. I eventually let out a brief prayer of encouragement (nothing like what I had planned) and sat back down.

This experience taught me several things and I was amazed at how God works. Here I was thinking I was merely going to encourage this man who was going through a tough time in his life but God wanted to teach me something, too!

We Are In A War Whether You Like It Or Not!

You see every week the church prayed for this man’s son and all the other families who had loved ones in the war in Iraq. Most of us prayed but not with the same urgency as those people whose family members were over there! Although we knew there was a war going on, we were disconnected from the war since it was not as personal as those whose loved ones were actually fighting this war. When it’s personal there is a different level of prayer that is exercised… that fervent, up-against-the-wall, all-or-nothing, totally-dependent-on-God kinda prayer!

The Bible talks about a war that we are constantly fighting – a SPIRITUAL war.

“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

Are you ready for this war?

Do you prepare yourself daily for the attacks that are inevitably coming?

How fervent is your prayer for this war?

I challenge you to make an effort every day to prepare for this war. Read Ephesians 6 so that you can be ready!  

Whether you like it or not, WE ARE AT WAR!