Warriors in Prayer- Like a wave…

Warriors in Prayer-Like the Wave of the Sea...
A few months ago, I heard a song with a lyric that caught my attention - empty prayers. I couldn't help but think back on my prayer life. How many times had I prayed to you, God, out of obligation, going through the motion without sincerity or consideration of the honor of whom I am able to petition to? I became a man who would approach the throne of the Almighty God, offering empty prayers. I was the praying warrior tossed by the waves of James 1:6. I became resentful when always being asked to pray at events and family functions. I started slipping more and more in my prayer life, convincing myself that I wasn't gifted in prayer, so I excused myself from it. When I did pray, I became more than the demise of the praying man described in James 1:6. My mind became affixed on Matthew 6:7, best translated in the CEB translation, which reads, "When you pray, don't pour out a flood of empty words as the Gentiles do." I became a man who prayed with empty words, and prayer became sandpaper - I struggled. So, what changed? I knew my prayer life, or lack thereof, did not mean I did not love Jesus, but what I discovered was that the deep relationship I had with Him was not as deep as I thought. “Come on! After 45 years of walking with Christ, mentoring many individuals, pastoring, and leading a Christian ministry, being married for thirty-plus years, and raising three children, I didn't have a deep enough relationship with Christ? But the Spirit intervened. This is what the Spirit of God put in my mind - the thought He anchored down was not a thought to simply contemplate or meditate on. No, God was picking a fight with me, and unlike His servant Jacob, I did not win, but I was still blessed. This is what He put against me:

"Aaron, your relationship with me is deep, but you have never reached 'prayer depth.' You dive to go deeper but then return to the surface instead of trusting me to supply you with what you need to go deeper. Aaron, you say to me our relationship is deep, but I am asking, 'What unit of measurement are you using to measure my depth?' How deep am I, Aaron? How deep are you willing to go? Is there ever a bottom to my deep, Aaron?"

The fight was over before it truly started, and God gave me the answer I needed. “Aaron, ask Me to give you the desire and longing to pray, and I will teach you.” I was reminded of the time the disciples came to Jesus after He had prayed and asked Him to teach them to pray. This is when I realized that prayer does not come naturally - it's taught by the Spirit, and He teaches the power of prayer in a different way to each person. Why? Because prayer is intimate, personal, and unique for each person; it's as unique as each one of us is to one another. Prayer life is relational - it's no different than the special relationship only you can offer your wife or those in your family. Prayer has been the secret weapon that He has given us in battle with the enemy. The enemy knew this and led us to believe that prayer was only to be used as a defensive weapon, only to be used when we are totally incapacitated, unable to deflect the enemy's final blow. But that is simply a lie from the Deceiver. Prayer is an offensive weapon and is to be used firstly and continuously. It is to be used with precision and accuracy and executed in full force and never returned wanting. Prayer is to be used as a strategy and the strategy for prayer is the same used for your abiding relationship in Christ. Next Tuesday we look forward to showing you what that strategy looks like by praying in 3D.