Now that the election cycle is over and we have survived more or less intact, I want to turn our attention to what it means to be a useful person. For those of us who are aging (and that is all of us), but I’m talking about senior Christians, the enemy has intentionally targeted us.
Why would he bother, you may be wondering. Here is why.
The prayers of the mature Christian are essential to the maintenance and expansion of God’s kingdom. Our prayers hold back the darkness so that our loved ones and the lost are not swallowed up by our spiritual enemy. Our prayers are a mighty wall of protection.
I am convinced that the devil intended to use the pandemic and then the chaos of this election season to destroy that wall by eliminating those of us who pray. His strategy was to remove us through premature death or, failing that, to cause us to feel deep despair. This despair causes us to devalue our contributions and long for death.
We are the guardians of the faith, the protectors of the weak, the young and the vulnerable. Of course, the enemy wants us to despise ourselves and the power of our prayers.
So, how can we push back against this oppressive attack? I want to suggest three ways.
- We stop asking God to take us home. We decide to remain in the earth for as long as Father has need of us. Like many believers, I have fallen into the trap of begging Jesus to return so that the pain would stop. He corrected my prayers. He asked me to pray instead that the Father’s house would be full and His heart be satisfied. Of course I want the suffering to end. But I do not see God’s plan for all of eternity.
- We ask Him how to pray for the lost, the weak, and the vulnerable. How do we build and maintain that wall?
- We put feet to our prayers. I have a friend. Her name is Janie Ray. She is the sweetest mercy gift. Whenever we shop together, she always asks someone if she can pray for them. She does it like this. “I just love to pray. Is there anything I can pray about for you?”
People just melt. It is the most amazing thing. I decided to try it. People did not melt for me. I realized that it does not sound authentic when I say it the way Janie does because I am not Janie. But I persisted and people began to respond when I asked if there was anything I could be praying about for them.
I have really good success with young men for some reason. I enjoy talking with young men and I am genuinely interested in them, so asking if I can pray comes naturally to me.
So, I have an assignment for you. Please ask the Lord to direct your wall-building prayers. AND as you go about your business, ask people if you can pray for them. Let me know how it goes at thepool@thepoolministries.org.
Hugs and blessings,
Susan
