Have you ever struggled when it comes to focusing in prayer? I've been wrestling with that lately. Well, that's not really honest. The truth is I haven't been wrestling, instead I have simply been unfocused.
I'll sit down to pray in my office and the thought will pop into my head, "I should make coffee." I get up, walk to the kitchen and make a pot of coffee. Of course, it takes a few minutes to brew a pot of coffee, so there is no sense starting to pray until the coffee is done. So I patiently wait and then carry my coffee mug back to my office. I sit down with my Bible, and decide that some background music would be nice. So I get up, find a CD and pop it into the CD player and hit play. I sit down and notice that the music is just a little too loud. I get up and adjust the volume. I sit down, open my Bible and the phone rings. It's a wrong number. I turn to a psalm to start my time of prayer and then think about a call I should make. What should I say? No, it's time to pray! Only now my coffee is cold and I wonder if anyone has watered the plants out front. Then I try to remember what the forecast was for the day and while I am thinking about that the thought pops into my head that I need to stop at the bank before I pay the bills. Should I pour a fresh cup of coffee or stick this one in the microwave? I should really clear off my desk, but I can do that after lunch. Speaking of lunch, is it too early to eat? Yes, it's only 9:30, but a snack would go good with this coffee. I need to warm it up anyway.
Can you relate?
These types of struggles are common, but I've been increasingly frustrated by them lately. This morning while I was "getting ready to pray" a book caught my eye. It's Intercession by Joy Dawson. In a chapter entitled "How Intercession Works" she lays out several steps for an effective time of prayer. I first came across these steps when I was in YWAM and have taught them from time to time. As I looked at them again, I read, "Take authority over the enemy in the name of Jesus and bind him from having any influence over your time of prayer."
It couldn't be that simple could it?
I prayed a simple prayer something like this, "Lord Jesus, thank you for the provision that you made on the cross for me. I acknowledge that your on the cross not only paid for my sin, but also broke the power of the enemy over me. Right now I come against Satan and all of his demons in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and I declare on Christ's authority that you can have no influence during my time of prayer. I choose by an act of my will to submit myself fully to the Lord Jesus Christ and will accept only the influence of His Holy Spirit."
I then began to seek God, using a format similar to the one found in the "teachings" section of the church website. Guess what? I was able to focus, to hear God clearly and to pour out my heart in intercession for the people He was laying on my heart. What a wonderful time of prayer!
Let us remember that there are few things that make our enemy tremble more that a praying saint. Satan will do anything he can to keep us from the place of intercession. He knows that a full scale attack may drive us to our knees, but a few stray thoughts might just do the trick!
It's a lesson I need to remember.
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Another kind of prayer, too:
When my daughter-in-law was in labor a week back, I was praying for her off and on through those two days whenever she came to mind. The second day I was also very busy, getting ready to entertain other visiting family members and fixing dinner. Suddenly at 5:00 p.m. in the midst of the dinner preparation, I again began thinking about Michele's labor. My thought was, "It has been so long for her, and Ted (my son) still has not called. What is happening?" I tried calling, but Ted did not answer his cell phone when I called. I began to pray in earnest, asking God to intervene on their behalf and bring about a safe delivery.
But again, no call from him. Dinner proceeded and things were busy around the house. Finally at 7:00 p.m. our son Ted calls to annouce the baby's birth. Our grandson was born at 5:04 p.m. after a long and difficult labor. He explained that the fifteen minutes before his birth, things had gotten very difficult. Baby had a very large head and he was literally stuck in the birth canal with the cord around the neck. He had also aspirated a great deal of meconium throughout the labor. The obstetrician had called a "code" and numerous extra medical staff were standing by for possible needed assistance. The following two hours were busy as medical staff aspirated the baby's lungs which had been contaminated with meconium and stitched up a tired mother. Thankfully, both of them were fine.
Ted says as the last minutes rolled by, the staff was obviously very tense and working very hard to facilitate the birth.
We are so very, very thankful for God's mercies and care. While all this was going on, the Holy Spirit was prompting this busy Grandma to take time to intercede on their behalf.
Sometimes I find myself amazed at the timing of prayer-prompts and concurrent events.
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