Chariots of Fire - Shawn Menke - The Church at Cahaba Bend

 

Several months ago our pastor Patrick Friday shared in a sermon that you should never feel like prayer is the least you can do for someone in trying times, because if you have experienced the power of prayer, you know it is the most you can do.  If you have taken a casual approach to prayer, this may sound like a lot of “church talk,” but if you are living a consistent prayer life, you know it is an affirmation of truth experienced.

I was one of those casual prayers for the first 46 years of my life, but beginning on February 25, 2009 (Ash Wednesday), I committed to a Lenten devotional of daily prayer, and have maintained a consistent, focused prayer life since.  I literally began keeping a prayer list with prayer petitions staying on the list for no less than 30 days, and thanksgiving praises for no less than seven.  At first it was mainly prayers for the needs of myself and others, but over time I learned prayer is broader and more powerful than that.  A good approach is to use the ACTS model – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication.  Supplication or petition is presenting to God your needs and the needs of others.  It is what I and many others do focus on, but adoration, confession and thanksgiving are critical for establishing a relationship of trust and faith in God, His goodness and His love for us.  I have come to think of those first three as the training ground or boot camp that prepares us for when trials come, and they will, and it is time to petition God in need with confident faith.

Over the years, I have seen God move in faithful and powerful ways, and I record those separately on my prayer list so I can return to them in adoration and thanksgiving, and for testimonial to the power of prayer.  These disciplines prepared my wife Beth and me for October 2016 when at 26 years old our daughter Blake suffered a blood clot induced heart attack.  We did not see that coming at all, and it came at a busy time in our lives.  But our established relationship with God through prayer, and the experiences of praying alongside others during their trials and seeing God’s hand at work, prepared us to face this trial.  It was hard to understand at the time and explain now, but the peace and calm we experienced was real and was as Paul says in Philippians 4:7 beyond all understanding, guarding our hearts and minds.  That peace was such a holy and generous gift to us from God during a difficult time.  We lifted up our prayers to God together with our family, our Church family, and many friends, and their friends.  Some prayers came from the people you expect and hope will pray with and for you.  Our small group and many church friends and family flooded us with texts of prayer, encouragement and hope.  But also there were unexpected prayer warriors.  My mother let us know that she had some friends touring Churches in Europe, and at each church they took specific time to pray for Blake.  The many prayer warriors surrounding us and lifting up Blake’s needs to God brought us great comfort because we were confident that God would honor those prayers.  Everything did not suddenly restore to “normal.”  Blake was in the hospital for 5 days, unable to work for 5 months, and the road to “normal” was bumpy, but many times God revealed His presence and love through the peace He gave us and His protection of Blake at the time of the heart attack and through her recovery.

Through the experience I have come to love the following passage: 2 Kings 6:15-17 – “When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.  “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  And Elisha prayed, “Open His eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”  

The prophet and the servant are facing what the servant thinks is certain doom, but Elisha knows better.  Further in the passage, you will see that God responds by saving Elisha and the servant, and He does much more.  To me, the passage reveals three perspectives in prayer.  1) The servant who knows of God but does not truly know Him or the importance and power of prayer.  2) The prophet who has a true relationship with God through prayer and is able to reveal the power to others as well as call on 3) prayer warriors - the chariots of fire - to surround, protect, help and lift up in prayer someone in need. 

We can avoid being in the shoes of the fearful servant who had no idea what to do by preparing ourselves for battle; by praying our way through life – adoration, confession, and thanksgiving - so that when trouble comes and it is time for crying out to God for help, we can be confident in God like Elisha, knowing where to turn and enlisting others to act in prayer.  So I encourage you to develop a full prayer life to build your relationship with God and prepare you for the trials to come, and when someone asks you to pray for them or others, don’t just say you will, really do it.  Pray.  Know that it is not the least you can do, and it may very well not be the only thing you can or should do to help, but it is the most you can do.  Be one of those chariots of fire surrounding someone in need.  Pray with confidence and faith, and know that God will answer in some good way.