Beyond Words - Prayer Part 3

"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth." --Psalm 46:10

We are all called to pray. Even when I was a small child and didn't understand much else about God, I knew that prayer was important. It wasn't until I had reached adulthood that I experienced, first hand, how the practice of prayer establishes and grows a relationship with God.

As my prayer life has developed, I have taken great comfort in Romans 8:26 which reassures believers that when we don't know what to pray, "the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." I also love that Jesus sits at the right hand of God as my advocate; my intercessor (1 John 2:1). It is easier to openly express my heart knowing that Jesus will filter my words before they reach the Father's ears.

The summer I turned 42, I answered the Lord's call to serve Him through intercessory prayer. This type of prayer was different than the other kinds of praying I had done before. I found myself burdened with the invisible, yet palpable, weight of certain people and events. Their names and faces traveled with me throughout the day...always with the understanding that I was to keep lifting them up to the Lord and praying for them as He directed.

For the last six years, I have been exercising this gift. It has become an integral part of my life. I fall asleep praying. I wake up with prayers already in my mind. Throughout the day, it has become second nature to agree with the Lord in whatever He has to say over situations and His beloved people. (In fact, I just stopped typing this in order to pray and answer a text from a friend who needed prayer because the enemy is trying to rob his joy -- the very joy he expressed, yesterday, over all the Lord is doing in his life.)

One of the things I love about God is how He continues to teach me new things about Himself through prayer. Last week, as I prayed for a mission team in Costa Rica, the Lord revealed Himself to me in a new way.

Thirty to forty minutes earlier, I had prayed my way through a long list of individuals. The Lord had directed me to claim a new Scripture for each one. Even though I enjoyed the end-result, the process was tedious. So, as I began praying over the mission team (a group of nine), I half-wondered if God was going to ask me to find individual Scriptures for them, too. Imagine my surprise when I sensed the gentle words,

"Shhh...Let Me talk."

...as in, these are My children, I know what they need.

"Shhh...Let Me talk."

...as in, this is My mission trip, I know what needs to be done.

"Shhh...Let Me talk."

...as in, just be still and let Me do what I do best.

Immediately, I broke into a great big grin. Everything in me: spirit, mind, body became still. I closed my eyes in delight and bowed my head as our Father prayed perfect words over my friends.

After some time had passed, something in the air shifted and the moment drew to a close. I knew, without having to be told, that He was finished. I didn't dare add to the words that had already been spoken. There was no need. He had said it all.

"Be still and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth." --Psalm 46:10

Amen