Force Multiplier
I wrote previously about my new habit of getting up early to go running. Well... I'm still getting up but the running part has sort of hit the skids as of late. The past two mornings the alarm goes off and I get up. I go to the bathroom (that's the secret to hauling myself out of bed anytime before 8 AM. I drink plenty of water before bed so when the alarm goes off, so does the bladder - "Get up! Or you won't like what happens next!")
It's here that the big plan derails. I just cannot envision myself actually leaving the house and running. I'm not overly tired, just can't fathom running around the neighborhood. For a lack of anything else "to do," I have been going to the couch and praying. This morning it struck me just how little time I have been actually dedicating to praying for others. The whole, "you should be praying more" guilt-trip has never had much of an impact on me - this was not just religious guilt. I sensed that God might actually be on something in my life and that He expects a change. So on that note, I dug up this thought that was penned on another of my 2-year old index cards:
The Air Force has a Special Operations component known as the Combat Controller. These are warriors that have been specially trained in the art and science of calling in precision air strikes on close-up enemy targets. Combat Controllers are deployed within Special Operations teams as force multipliers. If a small SOF team encounters a large enemy force or a well fortified position the Combat Controller can direct fighter jets and other air power into the area and clear the landscape. One Combat Controller, with the support of the guys in the skies, can decimate huge enemy installations.
Prayer is our "long range" weapon and we need to develop the ability to see these dug-in enemy positions and drop precise "bombs" upon them. Our intercession can be honed to a degree of accuracy that it can stop a coming assault and free people before they even know they are in danger.
In Ephesians, after Paul descriptively details the full armor of God, he wraps the passage up by saying: "Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere." So, we are sure to fully equip ourselves for whatever attacks may be leveled against us, but we are also expected to be on a constant lookout for what might be coming against other people.
No wonder I'm sensing a greater urgency and a higher demand of my time for prayer. Lord, here am I, send me.
Scott Bane
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I remember when you first wrote this on your cards. It gives so much meaning and purpose to our prayer life. I love it. Great reminder.