Rest in the Wrestleਨਮੂਨਾ

DAY 5: THE PRAYER

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times, “prayer is powerful!” Let me be the 1,001st time you’ve heard it. It can’t be overstated and certainly not underestimated. Prayer is our way of boldly wielding our spiritual sword. We slice through strongholds, demonic forces, and psychological deception with prayer derived from scripture. The sword of the Spirit, particularly in prayer, is the primary offensive weapon in the Armor of God. One could make the case for the shoes of peace or the belt of truth, depending on context and utilization, but, generally speaking, the sword does the bulk of the heavy lifting on the offensive side of the spiritual field of battle. Prayer is the primary route for connectivity to our Heavenly Father. Jesus made a way by dying, resurrecting, and ascending, then sending the Holy Spirit as our facilitator and interpreter in dialogue with the Lord.

As humans, with limited cognitive capability and finite mental capacity, we often wrestle with the thought of conversational interaction with the Creator of all creation. We over-analyze the complexity of our role in prayer. Either we view God as unapproachable or ourselves as inadequate. Early in my Christian conversion, I assumed prayer required a level of holiness that seemed unattainable. I assumed there was a protocol for believers to follow when approaching the ‘throne room’. Thankfully, the more we read the Bible, we see common, average dudes chopping it up with the Lord. The good news is He isn’t waiting for us to get polished and theologically educated before He’ll hear us out. In Christ, as believers, the Bible already qualifies us as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a Holy nation. The Lord has granted us unconditional ‘elite status’ and access to his throne of grace. He even gave us the Cliffs Notes on what to say when we get there.

Jesus made it simple when He encouraged us with the prayer blueprint of The Lord’s Prayer. He said, “Therefore, pray in this manner: Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”(Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬-‭13‬). Prayer is an invaluable tool that provides unique access to peace and rest during inexplicable distress or anguish. Prayer paves a way to experience the Lord’s presence and spiritually marinade our souls in that restful state. Not only does He meet us there, He equips us with profound wisdom to navigate our storms of life. He is faithful to provide rest during our wrestling.

REST AREA

• Write 3 prayers for 3 different people or areas of need. Write the names of 3 people you need to forgive and ask God for grace to do that.