Prepare For War Pt II…
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (Amplified Bible)
16Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always);
17Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly];
18Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].
This evening I received a phone call from a friend informing me that a mutual friend of ours had suffered a stroke; a beautiful woman in her 40’s had suffered a life threatening episode. As my friend began to relay the doctors recent assessment (which he gave a slim prognosis 2% survival to be precise), and that he asked that they call family, friends, chaplains and pastors alike, my heart sank, but within me, I heard but I have the final say. My mother and I felt lead to go and be with the family for what we thought was support, as we began to get ready to leave I could hear the Holy Spirit say, you can not be afraid, you are about to stare death in the face and you have to be bold in your conviction. I felt my spirit man shift and I felt almost a spirit of anger come over me and a concentration hit.
This morning during my mother’s and my intercessory prayer time, I began to travail and weep and wail in the spirit. This spirit would not let go. I prayed for clarity or to understand where this was coming from, but it never came. All through the day I found myself praying in the spirit and feeling physically ill. It all made sense when that phone call came, this evening. It was the battle cry, the spirit preparing me for war. When we entered the ICU tonight, fear was no where in sight, I wanted to do what was asked of me, and without shame and hesitation I grabbed the hand of my friend who lay heavily sedated and unconscious and my mother and began to pray as the spirit lead. I prayed not an eloquent prayer but I followed the leading of the Holy Spirit and gave way to His direction, I touched her as he commanded and prayed until I felt a release. When we left we waited in the waiting room and the chaplain assigned came out and commended us as a family and friends for having faith and bathing her in prayer. He also gave us an updated report which said she had stabilized and was holding her own. We bowed our heads and prayed again to give thanks and to continue to call unto her spirit man and God to complete the work.
If God had not prepared me this morning and so many other mornings by training me to hear and obey His voice and His spirit would I have been in a place that would have prepared me to face and be used in this moment? Probably not. It is the effectual, feverant prayers of the righteous that avail. It is learning how to discipline ourselves to pray and to allow the Holy Spirit preeminence in our prayer life that helps us in times of war and crisis. It is learning to yield to God to be used (being able to take orders) that helps us to be an effective solider in God’s army. If you never exercise the gift how would you ever know if it will work when you need it? You wouldn’t. Pray not just for things that make your life more comfortable, but learn to in preparation for a crisis. Learn to intercede and pray on the behalf of others, letting the Holy Spirit guide you and God orchestrating that moment, you never know when you will need to put it to use…Will you be ready when your time comes?
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