Free To
Pray
by Major Danielle
Strickland
On January 1st, 2011 (this was written
mid-2012) our small community of believers in a marginalized
and economically deprived area of Edmonton decided to pray.
This was not just a determined or renewed effort in our own
prayer life but a communal decision to make our community a
place of prayer. We set apart a place (it used to be the
leader’s office) and opened a 24/7 ‘war room’. The Salvation
Army launched a global call to prayer for justice and when we
heard the call we responded. What else can we do? Well, if we
are honest we could do a host of things. I’m an
action-oriented person. I’ve been known to think that prayer
is a waste of time and echo the song of U2 when they sang,
‘Please, get off your knees now’ in a call to move the church
from their huddled holy prayer clubs and into social justice.
But I’ve learned that this dismissal of prayer is a tragic
misconception. Some things I’ve learned along the way:
Only God builds the house. If I’m honest I
have a thousand of my own ideas of how to grow a church
community, or how to get people saved, or how to reform the
neighbourhood I’m in. But most of the time my ideas never
work. I lack resources and the ability to make those ideas
into real action. But when God opens the door, when He
declares the time – things happen that can’t happen any other
way. The door can’t be shut. Favour comes. Salvation comes.
Resources come. I find it hard to keep up with what God is
doing when we are actively asking for His direction and help.
Prayer is what made Jesus say those beautiful words of perfect
surrender (after a night of prayer), ‘not my will but yours be
done’.
Prayer is a habit that challenges hell and
changes us. I’ve always thought of prayer as passive. But a
better understanding of Jesus and our call to intercession has
changed my mind. Prayer is one of the most aggressive parts of
our warfare. Committed and passionate prayer has been the
marker of God’s moving on the earth. I remember a prayer
warrior I know telling me, ‘be careful what you pray. Most
likely by the end of your prayer you’ll be the answer!’ And
it’s true. Prayer doesn’t just challenge hell (although it
does that… ever wonder why the compulsion against praying is
so hard to overcome?) it changes us. It transforms my will to
desire and love God’s will. I know
of many people who wish they were more like Christian
giants and heroes of the past yet, most of the time the only
difference between them and us is the time we spend with God.
You’ve got to pray. Jay Leno once said, ‘I’d do anything for
the perfect body: except diet and exercise’. Many of us say
the same things about our lack of prayer.
Everyone can pray. Some of the best prayer
warriors I know are not ‘super gifted’ people in the eyes of
the world. They are surrendered and beautiful, but their gifts
are not always the public kind. They might be excluded from
communal gifts like music or leadership or organizational
things – but when it comes to prayer, they are faithful and
they are effective. Prayer is something that levels the ground
of community. In our little prayer room in Edmonton, a
beautiful women who hasn’t has an easy life, takes the morning
shift for three hours, six days a week! If you were to judge
her by ‘worldly standards’ you’d think she was homeless, or
destitute or at least very lonely.
You would be wrong. She is part of a
fired-up team of prayer warriors who together are changing the
atmosphere of our city and nation – crying out for justice day
and night. She prayers three hours every morning six days a
week!! And who better to cry for justice than someone who has
been dished out loads of injustice? When Jesus states his
mission statement in Luke 4 (the spirit of the sovereign Lord
is upon me to release the captives…) he’s quoting the prophet
Isaiah who goes on to say in chapter 61 and verse 4 “they will
rebuild the ancient cities, the cities that have been
devastated for generations – they will repair.” The ‘they’ he
is talking about are the ones who are set free. What better
way to start the prophetic process of rebuilding than through
praying together for a better world?
Prayer sustains. One of the most popular
questions I answer from people around the world is ‘how do you
keep on going?” Now the next point is going to address this as
well – but you can be assured that one of the things prayer
does is sustain us. It’s a weird thing to try and explain but
our Spirits need food. It’s that simple. Jesus said that a
blessing was attached to just being hungry and thirsty for
righteousness/justice (same root word in Hebrew). Have you
ever wondered how Jesus did all nights of prayer and kept on
his healing/deliverance/evangelism/justice ministry all the
next day? Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Are you weary? Need
sustenance? Pray. Honestly. Pray. Regularly. Pray.
Aggressively. You’ll find the blessing is yours. The secret is
out.
Presence of God. (Sabbath rest is not about
watching more TV). The Sabbath is all the rage these days.
It’s been a fascinating ‘new’ discovery for a generation with
over-developed, toxically busy lives. The trouble is that we
work the Sabbath into our own lives instead of working our
lives into the Sabbath. Let me explain. The Sabbath is about
intentional time to honour God with our attention, devotion,
time and energy. It’s about coming as family, community, and
ourselves, before our maker – as we are. It’s about leaving
the watch and the phone at home and wasting time with our
Creator and each other – reminding ourselves that ultimately
we aren’t in charge and we weren’t born to be slaves. We are
free. This all happens to me in the prayer room. I shut off my
phone (most times with the odd exception). I lock the door – I
put on some worship music – really loud and dance, lie down or
roll around if I want to. I write, laugh, read – poems,
sometimes I even try my hand at some art (which I would never
do otherwise). I waste my time (much needed time it seems to
me) with God. And I remind myself that I’m not in charge. I’m
not a slave. I’m free. This kind of Sabbath to the person who
hasn’t been part of a prayer room would seem like ‘work’. But
for real rest, a deep breath of God’s life into my very being
– well, let’s just say, it’s way better than a movie.
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