Stealth Attack by Ray Pritchard

Author:Ray Pritchard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Moody Publishers

SIX

A PRAYER FROM

THE BATTLEFIELD

“Wars are not won by evacuations!”

—WINSTON CHURCHILL

ON THE DAY IN MARCH 2003 when the war in Iraq broke out, a Chicago TV station sent a news team to cover our special prayer meeting. Hoping to get some good sound bites, they interviewed several people from the congregation. When the reporter asked why we were having a prayer meeting at the very moment when the bombs were about to start falling, one woman gave a simple answer, “We believe our most powerful weapon is prayer.” There is a world of truth in her words. The psalmist declared, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:7). In the last few years we have seen the marvels of modern technology: laser-guided bombs, missiles that can hit a tank under a bridge and leave the bridge standing, bombs guided by satellites, goggles that enable you to see at night, and planes that cannot be seen by radar. Fifteen years ago this was the stuff of science fiction. Now we sit at home and watch the war unfold in real time on television.

As amazing as those things are, they only touch the physical realm. We have a weapon far greater than anything we have seen in the war, a supernatural weapon—prayer. I hope in this chapter to encourage you to pray when you are in trouble.

GOD DELIVERS

THROUGH PRAYER

During prayer meeting, a man said, “Lord, it's easy to get into trouble, but it's hard to get out of trouble.” Psalm 50:15 offers this wonderful promise: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” When we are in trouble, God wants us to cry out to Him. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1).

Our God delights to rescue His children when we are in desperate straits. “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles” (Ps. 34:17). God invites us to turn to Him when everything in the world has turned against us. When in trouble, pray! That may seem obvious, but sometimes we forget to pray. And sometimes we don't know how to pray. Second Thessalonians 3:1–5 gives us five requests that are always appropriate when trouble comes our way. Here are five ways to pray when our backs are against the wall.

The First Request: Effective Proclamation

“Pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you” (2 Thess. 3:1). The first thing Paul asks is that people would pray for the proclamation of the gospel. In Greek the request is literally “that the Lord's message might run.” Those of you who like to jog will appreciate this word picture. May the message of the gospel go quickly from city to city, from house to house, from one heart to another. His desire is for the gospel to have free course as it hurries into the hearts of hurting people.

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