My intention is to submit a new post to my blog once a week, every Friday—that gives me time to consider, pray, and study what God is speaking to my heart.  It is good to do that because I’ve discovered some of the scriptures I thought I knew weren’t exactly the way I remembered them or they were not exactly saying what I assumed they were.  Sometimes by Wednesday, though, all I can think is “I’ve got nothing!” and my commitment is to listen to the Spirit and write as He leads instead of trying, from my flesh, to force something.  …so my prayer is that, if God isn’t on my schedule or the Spirit isn’t giving me something to write, I’m not going to post.

That being said, it isn’t Friday!

I’ve been thinking a lot about my last post and all of the horrible things, not only occurring throughout the world but specifically happening to Christians.  When I mentioned indifference towards some of the horrific events currently taking place, this little voice inside my head attempted to justify me—“I care, I really do, I just don’t know how to pray and I don’t know what else to do; I am a little helpless here and there are others who are better pray-ers than I am.”

Indifference is not necessarily a lack of concern; it also includes apathy—an attitude existing all too often amongst humans in general, but also found in the hearts of believers.  Sometimes we are just too busy to let the suffering of others take a significant role in our attentions; or more commonly (I can assure you I have done this!), we declare that the suffering and violence so rampant in our world is too negative and depressing; we just want to look for something positive to lift our spirits.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we are called to be engaged—engaged in being light in the midst of darkness (Matthew 5:14-16), engaged in serving others (Galatians 6:2), engaged in rejoicing, engaged in prayer, engaged in thanksgiving (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Sometimes mountains appear daunting and immovable—and that is definitely what the enemy would like us to think—challenging our ability to rejoice, pray, and express thanksgiving.  But the point isn’t to look to the mountains; instead, we are to look to the One who is our help (Psalm 121).

I have read a lot of books about prayer, trying to figure out just how to have an effective prayer life—I know that, as Christians, prayer is both a privilege as well as a precious aspect of our relationship with God.  Yet honestly I have, many times, struggled with this scripture in James:  “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16).  I recognize that, with Jesus living in me through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, I am righteous; I also recognize the individual aspect of this verse—one person can effect much through prayer.  The part I have struggled with most often is how to pray fervently, especially when I am not feeling so fervent.

I know it is not about a saying the same thing in different ways or with many words because Jesus cautioned when teaching about prayer, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matthew 5:7).  …and me trying to manufacture fervency is just another facet of self-righteousness.  I am so grateful for the promise God gives us through the apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Rome:  “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.  For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26, 27).  This is not a release from prayer; rather, it is an assurance that even if we don’t get it exactly right, the Holy Spirit is there to make up for our vulnerabilities.

The Spirit has been opening up windows of insight in my heart, highlighting ways for me to truly experience fervency in prayer—Paul hints at it in his second epistle to the Corinthian church:  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God”  (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4).  There are points in my life where I can identify and empathize with others—first, as a Christian; I am seeing intolerance and misrepresentation multiply rapidly within our society and I recognize that the persecution my brothers and sisters are suffering internationally may happen here soon.  …and these persecuted believers are more than strangers, they are family, “and if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26).

Besides my Christian faith, here are some other things about me:  my mother died when I was four, I am a single mother, a grandmother, the mother of military members, there are aspects of my life right now that are restricting…. I could go on but here is my point:  My heart aches for these imprisoned mothers (Asia Bibi, Meriam Ibrahim) and from that standpoint I can pray for them.  I can pray from a deep wound in my heart (that God has graciously healed) for orphans; from the position of a parent I can pray for those 300 girls taken captive in Nigeria.  I can pray for Naghmeh Abedini from the brokenness of raising children on my own; and I can pray for her husband because he is the age of my children, he is a Christian, and he is a United States citizen.  Because of his citizenship, I can also pray for justice, integrity, wisdom, and compassion within the leadership of this nation.  Some of the restrictions I am experiencing right now remind me that I am not in prison and I am not suffering for my faith; however, I can pray for those who are!

I can’t think of everything to pray but there are touch points in my heart where I am able to identify with the suffering of others—compassion and fervency give place to effective prayer when they are birthed from deep within our spirits.  That is one of the beautiful and amazing things about the body of Christ, with so many unique personalities and so much diversity of experience, when we join our hearts together in prayer for others we provide an amazing covering of God’s presence in their lives.