Battle to Blessing

 October 6, 2021

There seemed to be a heaviness in the room. Pastors were gathered to pray together as they have done for more than 25 years. When started by pastor Dayle Keefer those many years ago, the gathering was devoted to praying for revival in our area. We still do that, but other issues, social, political, religious, have often taken center stage. It’s hard to stay on focus when prayers go seemingly unanswered, and it’s even harder to stay enthusiastic. The oppressive atmosphere was almost palpable.

It’s not surprising. After all, prayer is not merely sitting casually together, bathing in the glory of God’s presence. It is also confronting the powers of darkness arrayed against God and his kingdom work. If we expect prayer to be all sweetness and light, we haven’t even begun to plumb its depths. 

Reading some of the giants of faith from years gone by, they almost unanimously speak of the futility of trying to bring about genuine change by programs and organization alone. It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to discern the massive failure of human institutions and efforts to make this world a better place by good intentions, precise organization, and hard work alone. We cannot do impossible work in our own power. Making the impossible possible requires the power of the Holy Spirit, which is accessible only in prayer—fervent, focused, godly prayer. 

Perhaps the heaviness I sensed was part of the spiritual struggle against the darkness. If so, an incident later in the day proved the efficacy of those prayers. On my way home, I stopped by a local gift shop just to see if there were anything there that Linda might like. A month or so ago, I had stopped by only to learn that the owner was retiring and selling the business. The For Sale sign was gone, so I pulled in and introduced myself to the new owner, asking how long they had been open. “Today is our first day; you are our third customer,” she responded. They had coffee and cookies for their opening, and before I left, she pressed me to take a scented votive candle as a gift. I couldn’t do that without buying something, so though there wasn’t much that particularly caught my eye, I bought a decorative dish towel, which Linda actually liked.

I had driven about five miles towards home when God nudged me. “You should have prayed for them and blessed their new business,” he said. I resisted for a couple miles before turning around. “It’s me again,” I announced to a rather surprised proprietor. “Would it be alright if I prayed for you and your new business?” She agreed, and I blessed them. I don’t know what their spiritual status is, but my prayer was that their store would be a place of peace and tranquility in the name of Jesus. I don’t know what they thought, but the prayerful spiritual battle of the morning I believe was the foundation of the spiritual blessing of the afternoon.