Prayer is the Battle

  "Prayer is the battle, it is a matter of indifference where you are. Whatever way God engineers the circumstances, the duty is to pray. Never allow for the thought-'I am of no use where I am'; because you can be of no use where you are not....We have to labor along the line of God's direction, and He says pray." (Oswald Chambers, Utmost for His Highest.)


    In June 1999, our church sent a 3 person mission team, made up of two men and

one woman (Charlie, Patrick and Miriam), to Paramakudi, India with the job of speaking at some outdoor evangelistic meetings, (which were legal then, but no longer are) and providing teaching for local pastors. The plan was for each man to preach on two nights apiece and for them to also share the teaching time with the pastors. The previous summer our church had sent a ten person team there for the first time and the members of this team were looking forward to their time in India, working with Pastor Balasingh Pandian and his wife Helen. All went well the first two nights with one man preaching a sermon and then having another visiting Indian pastor preach also. (We gave him the nickname of the “Tony Evans of India” because he was a large man and he was evidently very funny because he always had the crowds laughing!)

   After, the second night, Patrick was looking over his sermon for the next night and just did not feel right about what he had written down. He confided in his wife, Miriam, and they both got down on their knees to pray for guidance. During the prayer Patrick asked God to give him peace about what to say or to wake him up in the middle of the night and give him what God wanted him to teach the following night. They prayed about other issues and then went to bed.

     At 2 AM, Patrick was awakened and sat up in he bed. God spoke to his heart in a clear and unmistakable way. He heard God say: “Tell them that I want them to have a personal relationship with Me!” Immediately, he started writing on the pad he had next to the bed and wrote for about an hour and a half until he felt that he had written all that God had given him. As soon as he finished the last sentence, Miriam woke up and he explained to her what God had spoken to him about the night’s message. They both rejoiced together and then prayed a prayer of thanksgiving to our Lord who had answered their prayers swiftly and lovingly.

          That night was a joyous night as the message was delivered with passion and joy. We don’t know if anyone’s life was affected by the message but we know that our life was affected because He showed us that He is a prayer answering God!

  What is the immediate need for you or a family member today? Tell your Lord. He is ready to listen and respond to your needs in a wonderful way. Ask in faith and with great expectation. He would love to hear from you today!

Pray for:

1.     The faith to bring your most pressing petitions to God with boldness and expectancy.

2.     The infilling of the Holy Sprit that will guide you in your prayers and will even cry out for you when you are unable to form the words with your mouth.

1.     The boldness to tell others what God is doing in you and in those around you who are drawing closer to God every day in prayer and fellowship with the King of Kings.