Power in Prayer: Embrace your Weakness

by Marilynn Chadwick

Not getting what you want when you want it may be one of the best training tactics for sharpening your prayers. Notice I didn’t say not getting what you want at all. I find that people are more easily able to dismiss their heart’s desire altogether than to wait for it. It is easier to give up in defeat and walk away from a dream than to stand on God’s promise, clinging to the hope God has placed in your heart.

That’s why waiting on God is such an incredible test of faith—I refer to this time in my life as “wait training.” When my husband and I endured many grueling years of infertility, I fed myself on the promises of God’s Word about healing—too many to count—day after day, month after month. During those days of waiting, I learned to hear God’s whispers of encouragement and trust his character. In short, I learned the secret of what the apostle John calls “abiding in Christ” (John 15:7).

The lessons during those days of weakness and waiting trained me to hear God’s voice. I learned to stay yoked to him through faith, rest, and humility when my own strength fell short. Humility is a constant companion when you are desperately waiting for something. Dependency on God makes you realize just how small you really are. Strangely, I found that it brought freedom. It also gives strength in the spiritual battles that come daily.

The apostle Paul discovered this same aspect of God’s grace during his own times of trial. He had pleaded with God to take away what the Bible calls a “thorn in the flesh,” some weakness or affliction that Paul said tormented him. But the Lord comforted Paul with these words, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul eventually got to the point that he welcomed weakness and hardship and could even say, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). As a wise friend once remarked after weathering multiple family tragedies, her faith still strong, “Control is just an illusion.”

And despite all my tools, tips, personal disciplines, and strategies for prayer, I keep learning the same lesson—some of God’s most amazing work occurs when I am flattened by life.

What does that have to do with our power in prayer? Just this—our times of weakness don’t repel God or wreck our prayers. In fact, God’s grace shines brightest through our broken places. If you have crash landed into the end of your own strength and have nothing to bring to God but your broken places, give thanks. For you just may discover that his strength really does work best when you are weak. Like Paul, you may experience your greatest spiritual victories.

This time of brokenness could be the most valuable thing you bring to your personal journey in prayer. You may be on the brink of seeing your mess become your miracle. For it’s when we are broken that we’re most likely to hear God’s whispers and experience his greatest power.

Power in Prayer: Be Vigilant

by Marilynn Chadwick

I echo nineteenth-century, Yale-educated scholar and theologian R.A. Torrey when he said, “There is a devil. That’s why we pray.” And if you ask me why it’s important to bring order and discipline to our lives for the purpose of prayer, I would add, “Because we are in a spiritual war.”

The Bible admonishes us to live daily as sober-minded and watchful, because “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 ESV). Anyone with combat experience will tell you that alertness and preparation, along with mindfulness to details, can make the difference in victory or defeat, life or death.

Our oldest son attended a military academy in Virginia for one year after high school to play for their top-ranked prep basketball team. He and his teammates banked on the fact that though it was sure to be tough, this experience would help them become bigger, faster, quicker, and stronger ball players. The school’s success in launching Division One college players spoke for itself.

But life at a military academy is not what you’d call fun. Our son would never tell you he liked being in full dress, at attention, and ready to march by 6 A.M. Nor did he enjoy the strict discipline and freakish attention to detail. His shoes had to be lined up to an exact inch from the wall. The sink could have no toothpaste traces, and his bed had to be made with absolutely no wrinkles—all before the sun came up. Some cadets even slept on top of the already made beds, and threw an extra blanket over them at night, rather than face an imperfectly made bed, subsequent demerits, and the hours of marching around the “bull ring” that were sure to follow. Oh, and did I mention the “buzz cuts?”

At the year’s end, our son headed off to fulfill his dream of playing Division One college basketball. Other cadets headed for West Point or the Naval Academy, and eventually to combat. Over its one-hundred-plus year history, the school has sent scores of young men off to fight, and some to die, defending our nation’s freedom. A sign on their campus wall prominently displays this Revolutionary War quote, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”

The Bible encourages us to be similarly vigilant in guarding our spiritual freedom. We are told to always be alert and to “pray without ceasing.” Yet life moves at such a fast pace—sometimes we forget to guard that line of communication with God.

A person who decides to follow Christ will face struggles with the world, the devil, and our own human nature or what the Bible calls “the flesh.” Paul knew that the battle had to be fought on all sides.

Our human body is still earthbound and subject to all kinds of desires and propensities to get off track. We must take charge of it, so it doesn’t control us. I’ve discovered that some of my toughest spiritual battles have been the battles with myself.

That’s why the Bible teaches that self-discipline is important to the believer who wants to win at spiritual war. “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful,” the writer of Hebrews tells us. “Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11 NIV). As someone wisely said, “Peace, like war, must be waged.”

Power in Prayer: Lean Upon Friends

by Marilynn Chadwick

There are some spiritual battles that leave us so weak that we must lean on the help of a few good friends. It was one of those times for the paralytic in Luke 5. We don't know the man's ailment or all he had suffered. We do know he was helpless and unable to get to Jesus by himself. A few friends carried him on a mat to see the Master. Their way was blocked by the crowds. So, they ingeniously climbed on the roof, hauled up their sick buddy, cut a hole in the roof, and lowered him through the tiles—right in front of Jesus! Instead of rebuking them, Jesus (perhaps with a smile), commended their faith. Right then and there, he healed their friend.

Let’s reflect on this remarkable scenario: “And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven" (Luke 5:17-20 NIV).

Notice that Jesus saw the faith of the sick man's friends. He forgave the man's sins and healed his infirmity! I wonder what it was about the faith of a few friends that ignited this miracle. Their persistence? Their audacity? Their willingness to step outside the customary bounds?

Or just maybe it was their love for their dear friend. I like to think that these guys had suffered with their buddy. Prayed for him. Refused to give up on him. They did whatever it took to get him to Jesus. Ultimately, they believed in the power of Jesus to set their friend free. These guys were true intercessors.

I once had a friend who wrestled with a cruel and long-standing addiction. Complicated by a history of childhood abuse and a host of serious medical problems, she reached the point of exhaustion and hopelessness. She even considered ending her life. And then, in stepped a few good friends. Together, they did battle to find a place of recovery for my friend and the means to get there. Grace and mercy in action. And how they did pray!

I watched this little team of friends demonstrate the power of persistent prayer and loving action. They "carved a hole in the roof" to place their friend at the feet of Jesus. Isn't this our calling as believers? It was Jesus himself who reminded us that there is no greater love than to lay down our life for our friends.

We are called to be vessels of the same mercy we've received from the Lord. I'll leave you with my favorite definition of mercy: “Mercy is the willingness to enter the chaos of another person's life.” Lord, make us willing to become your vessels of mercy.