Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
James 5:16
I am a prayer warrior. That is one of the things God has called me to do in this life. It is a privilege for which I am grateful. When I promise to pray for someone, I do it. When I know of a friend or family member who is suffering or struggling, I pray. Many of the people I pray for don’t ever know about it and that’s as it should be.
Sometimes, though, it feels like my prayer list weighs five thousand pounds and is about to completely crush me. That list is filled with the concerns of people I care about deeply. Each one is dealing with big challenges. Depression, cancer and other medical problems, loss, addictions, homelessness, confusion, impending death, hopelessness, marital problems, grief, fear, insecurity, parenting problems, trauma, financial problems, and spiritual deception. As I type this list, faces flash through my thoughts, each one dear to me, and I am overwhelmed by the pain in each of these beloved souls.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
Psalm 73:26
but God is the strength of my heart,
my portion forever.
But God . . . How many verses in the Bible start with these words? I don’t know but I know that what follows them is always an assurance that God is bigger that any problem, any enemy, any obstacle. His resources are endless. His promises are sure. His knowledge is perfect. He is absolutely sovereign. And He is NEVER afraid, confused, or undecided. He is able and He loves us, even if we do not think we deserve His love. So I approach Him in prayer for these dear ones knowing that my prayers will be heard and that there are no problems in this world that He cannot solve. He proved it when He solved the biggest problem we will ever face – our need for salvation.
For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8
Those of us who are prayer warriors also need to remember that God has blessed us with a gift that we may underestimate – each other. When I can pray with a sister or brother in Christ, when another saint joins in carrying these many concerns to the throne of God, I am less overwhelmed. We are meant to carry these burdens together. In those moments, when I am joined in prayer with another believer, the weight of the problems grows lighter and I am encouraged. I am also reminded that none of this is about me. I am just one of the many. The irony is that often the one praying with me is on the list of people I am praying for. It is an endless, overlapping network of prayer support, as Jesus intended it to be. How beautiful is that?
“Again, truly I tell you, if two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.”
Matthew 18:19-20
Be a prayer warrior! Trust God with your concerns. Trust Him with the people you love. And give Him the glory for everything, even the hard things.
Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21
a surrendered life 