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.

Power in Prayer: Praise as a Weapon

by Marilynn Chadwick

I once saw an old Tarzan movie in which the ape man was peering at a droplet of water through a microscope. The instrument had been brought to Africa by Jane’s father, Professor Porter. Tarzan was quite shaken to see that the water he drank daily was teeming with all kinds of organisms, invisible to the naked eye.

Similarly, the Bible reveals that our spiritual atmosphere is filled with unseen enemies—the source of our spiritual battles. “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 NLT).

I wonder how we’d react if we could catch a glimpse of the spirits in the invisible heavenly places. Like Tarzan, I imagine we’d be shocked. The Bible doesn’t spend a lot of time describing this spiritual realm. It does, however, give us instructions on how to do battle. We’re given a detailed list of spiritual armor in Ephesians 6:10-20. One of my personal favorite battle tactics is found in James 4:7 (NET): “Submit to God…resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

But one of the most powerful weapons to deal with the powers of darkness is the weapon of praise. Praising the Lord, while also giving thanks, fights our enemy in ways we don’t fully understand. Yet this tactic is surprisingly powerful, so it’s worth emphasizing.

I have an 80-year-old friend who has been a powerful Bible teacher for over 50 years. She recently shared with me that she considers praise to be the strongest weapon in her prayer arsenal.

The New Testament is filled with stories which illustrate the power of praise. We see Paul and Silas singing and praising God in a Philippian jail—their chains fell off, the jailer accepted Jesus, and his whole family became believers (Acts 16:22-34).

The Old Testament, too, tells stories of praise and its mighty power. King Jehosophat and the people of Israel were being attacked by their enemies. Defeat looked certain, but Jehosophat sought the Lord. “After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang: ‘Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!’ At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves” (2 Chronicles 20:21-22).

Perhaps you’re facing a fierce spiritual battle. You’ve resisted, and prayed, and fought the good fight. But you’re exhausted. Why not take a lesson from King Jehosophat? This may be your strategic moment to simply thank God and praise him for his goodness. Let him fight this battle. Rest in his power—even if you don’t fully understand. Remember how the devil and his minions hate praise. So, if you can just stand firm and continue to praise and thank God in the middle of your trouble, I believe you will ultimately see the devil flee. After all, he is allergic to praise.

Power in Prayer: Wait for the Second Voice

by Marilynn Chadwick

Continued from Friday…

Elijah was known as a man who listened to God. Repeatedly in the Bible, we read that “the word of the Lord came to Elijah.” He saw miracle after miracle as he stepped out in obedience to God’s voice. Elijah has plenty to teach us about how to pray during a time of crisis. The prophet had faced his own personal battle with terror. After an enormous fight of faith in which he defeated a demonized mob of over four-hundred prophets of Baal, Elijah was the target of a death threat by the wicked Queen Jezebel.

Elijah’s deliverance came as he ultimately learned to hear God, not in the earthquake, wind, or fire, but in a gentle whisper. After the turmoil and fear that followed the shocking terror attack on 9/11, I was desperate to listen to God, too. Not in the fiery drama in the world around us, but rather in “the still, small voice” of the heart. Somehow, I just knew that if God were to give me instructions about how to pray, it would not be in the first voice—the tumultuous roar I heard in my head, with its temptation to panic—but rather in the second voice, a voice of calm.

I had seen a statue of the prophet Elijah when visiting Israel years earlier. The sinewy, fireball of a man looked more warrior than prophet. After praying for God to bring drought as judgment upon faithless Israel, he gave a whipping to the evil mob of 400 pagan prophets in his own “Super Bowl of faith.” The feisty prophet then climbed to a mountain-top to pray for rain—and ran the distance of a full marathon to beat Ahab back to Jezreel in time to await the downpour (you can read the full story in 1 Kings 18:22-40).

Yet, after all that, when faced with retaliatory death threats from Ahab’s wicked wife, Queen Jezebel, Elijah had a serious meltdown. “Terrified,” we’re told in 1 Kings 19:3, Elijah “ran for his life.” This self-described zealot for God, the steely, iron-man-triathlete of faith had exhausted himself into what we would call today a clinical depression. “I am ready to die," he told God. He felt alone and utterly defeated—as broken down as the rest of Israel.

But herein lies the secret: When Elijah broke, he knew where to run. Elijah ran to Mount Horeb—the place where he knew he would encounter God. And what did God do? Fed him, put him to sleep, fed him again. Only after this period of intensive rest and refueling did the Lord speak to Elijah.

This time, God was not in the earthquake, wind or fire, but rather in a gentle whisper. And in this intimate conversation—humbled yet renewed after his time of utter brokenness—Elijah saw a new side of God, and probably a new side of himself. Though fervent in faith and mighty in strength, Elijah had discovered the full extent of God’s great love for him during his time of greatest weakness.

When you break, where do you run? It’s during these times of absolute breaking that we become most receptive to God’s voice.