Every Thursday night during our time in Argentina we had a few hours of intercession. Intercession consisted of taking time to pray over a few specific topics, people, or places – followed by worship, a short “word” {sermon/devotional}, & a time of “report” – for people to share how the Lord moved or worked in the short time we were all together.
Both of the prayer groups I was apart of, we were asked to pray over India {which was so sweet}. Each time I was also put in a tri or quad- lingual group. It continues to amaze me how the Lord understands each word & sound we utter in our individual languages & He finds them all so beautiful. I just imagine Him sitting up in heaven, beaming as He earnestly listens to all of his children present their requests to Him.
During the first time of intercession one of my friends was praying in a different language & the Lord brought to my mind an image similar to the one below:
This is a picture of the bottom of where one of the ropes course activities is – you use the metal rungs to hold onto & step on as you climb up the tree.
In this vision, I saw a figure climbing up towards the top of the tree. With each prayer being said, I saw these footholds being ripped out from beneath the feet of the figure climbing the tree. It was so clear to me in that moment that the Lord was showing me that each prayer prayed & each word stated, had an impact.
I think many of us tend to shy away from the “spiritual realm” because it sounds so strange, sometimes unrealistic, & if we’re honest, scary. Of course it does, things we don’t know about or are unfamiliar with are scary – we don’t want to look like fools & we don’t want others to think we might be crazy.
What I think is so beautiful about having a relationship with Jesus is that there is so much grace for my unbelief & an endless outpouring of his love on me, even when I don’t see or challenge myself because it’s unknown or scary. The Lord sees me & embraces me just as I am.
I also believe, however, that the Lord is challenging me {& maybe you too} to take one step further into the unfamiliar & to believe in the things I can’t quantify, the things I can’t see.
I think a prayer is a lot like that. Many times we say words out loud, hoping they land somewhere within God’s vicinity. Sometimes we pray half-heartedly, perhaps not even believing the Lord will answer or show us any result of our prayers. Maybe we do actually pray, fully believing that we will see chains of shame, pain, & hurt being shattered.
I don’t know about you, but I see God ushering me into this place of praying with the belief that not only do my prayers make a difference, but that my prayers are actually changing the spiritual atmosphere around me.
At the end of this vision, I saw the figure sliding down the tree – the enemy no longer had any footholds. He had nothing to hold onto & no grip on the hearts or hands of men or women who fully believed in the prayers they were praying.
God hears you, He loves you, & He wants you to keep bringing everything to Him. He cares about the little things, like those conversations that make you nervous, the test you think you might fail, or the the bigger things – those relationships that are hard to manage, those people that are hard to love. God hears you & wants you to simply bring those things to Him. By doing so, your prayers are taking footholds out from beneath the enemy & preventing your heart from getting stuck in a foothold of bitterness, frustration, or resentment.
Let’s enter into this freedom together.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:31-32
