A Warrior for…

Submitted by Andrea Gerhard

Have you had one of those days or one of those weeks where you just feel a certain nudging, where you feel a certain stirring and call to action? This would be one of those times for me.

It’s interesting sometimes the conversations you might witness or engage in and the ways they impact you – I have been in and out of conversations and meetings in the past several days that have left my mind stirring and my heart both elated and troubled. As one day passed into the next, each would build on the last and it has left words and thoughts and feelings just stirring through me and it has brought me to this point today. God has both reminded me in the last few days and has convicted me even more so recently of what it is I am called to do and what He has created us to be for Him and for each other. I am called up to be a warrior for Him.

As I listened the other morning to our gracious presenter at the Chamber Prayer Breakfast, I was once again reminded and greatly nudged about my ability to be a warrior in prayer. I do pray in various ways on a daily basis (and I am of course fortunate to work in ministry where I do have the opportunity to pray regularly in the workplace), but I left there with the sense that my Lord is pressing me to do more for Him in this area. As I look around our church and community and further on into all that is happening in our country and our world today, I can be doing so much better to lift all of these challenges and also the thanksgivings into the hands of God. I can do better in my regular prayer for my husband, my children, for all marriages, for so many others. I can do better in my prayer to the Lord about others feeling convicted to do the same, to be warriors for Him.

A few years ago, I learned just what it meant to be a warrior in my own home. After being married a few years, valuing the commitment I made before God to the partner He had chosen for me, we came to a challenging time. I knew God was preparing me for “something” prior to that, but I wasn’t certain what it would be. And finally, it did come to pass – the other shoe dropped. Holding on to everything that covenant with God meant, I understood part of that meant I was to be a warrior for my husband, a protector of his soul and a fighter against anything that wanted to have him. It was time to “draw my sword” and to put up a very challenging fight. And here’s the important part – my fight was not against him, my fight was for him but against the darkness that wanted to have him. God calls us to so much more than the world does when it comes to being a husband or a wife – to me, He calls us to be a warrior for that person – to love and protect that person, to pray hard for that person, and to fight like we are on the front lines for the soul of that person. You know, Satan wants to have each one of us – I wasn’t about to let that happen to someone God entrusted me with and committed me to in marriage, someone whom I love. God honored that fight, He restored things to an even better and more blessed place, and I understood how I needed to continue to honor Him in that role.

Through these last few years, God has continued to call me up and nudge me to realize that it is not just in our marriages and families that we have to respond this way. With all that is on the table these days in our communities, our country, our world, no longer can we simply be in our own safe place tackling the things that are within reach. Now we need to be warriors in prayer for each other, for all of the ways in which Satan is working hard to have those around us, and continually calling on God and all of His majesty and power to respond. He does hear, He does answer, and I feel like He is waiting sometimes to know that we are truly fighting for Him and His kingdom. We don’t always listen for Him to hear Him, and we don’t always answer Him when He calls (like we pretend we didn’t hear Him to avoid responding to the hard things). Sometimes it feels like we give lip service to following His will, as in we say we will follow His will…unless we don’t particularly like what He seems to be putting in front of us.

You know, Jesus gave us the words to begin with in Matthew 6:9-13, a way to honor Our Father and also ask for our basic needs as we surrender to His will – the first prayer of a prayer warrior, one to prepare us for all that is ahead. I’ll be honest – I do feel a little bothered when we just fall into a “rhythm” of saying that prayer when the words are so important. Have you stopped to think lately about what you are truly speaking, what you are saying to your Father in heaven? This is where we can begin, where we can open dialogue with Him – it really does have to come from our hearts and be sincere, with a sense of understanding, before we launch into the other things we want to put before our God.

I’m going to leave you with two challenges – first, I challenge you to think about the ways in which you can be more of a warrior for your Father in heaven, and once you have identified those things, how you can put it into practice. Second, set out to be more of a warrior for Him in prayer – take yourself out of your prayers for a while and identify who and what else you really could be praying for. And the next time you pray The Lord’s Prayer, take your time to really think about the words you are speaking and what they mean and see if it doesn’t change how you lift up that prayer to your Father in heaven.

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine IS the kingdom, AND the power, AND the GLORY, forever and ever. Amen.”

On a side note, If I can pray for you (or with you), or if our ministry team can pray for you, share your prayers with us by clicking HERE.