If you are like me, then you are a part of numerous intercession groups. We have prayer groups that cover the local, national, and international issues and then specifically targeted groups. Within each group, there are text threads that send out updates and “urgent” prayer requests. And yes, they all seem urgent (and to the natural eye are) and they are pressing you to pray now. Then you add these messages and “calls to pray” to your own family members and needs and you find yourself running around like a chicken with your head cut off.
Years ago my husband and I were the directors of a house of prayer that served locally, nationally, and internationally— and we quickly discovered that the prayer alerts that we would receive were impossible for one house of prayer to keep up with; let alone us personally. We had to allow the Holy Spirit to lift us up higher than all of the chaos, crisis, and urgency to focus only on what HE was assigning us to pray into. It was only then that our prayers became effective and sharp.
As prophetic people and intercessors— there are so many words released that stir our hearts and cause us to want to engage in each one. There are many issues that appear critical and profoundly important to be prayed into. But you cannot take them all upon yourself or you will find your prayer life becoming ineffective. You will be running from here to there without any true focus or understanding.
Your legs will be running while your head has been left in the swirl of urgency and crisis.
As we all know, there is a LOT happening globally that could keep us engaged in a hundred different critical initiatives all at one time. Here in the United States, we are in the post-election frenzy of receiving many different kinds of “intel” that needs prayer as we move toward the January 20th transition. But what happens with too much information is an overload that causes many people to either become frantic or to totally disengage due to feeling overwhelmed.
Frantic prayer is not from God and quickly becomes fear-based and done in your own strength.
It is time to find your place on the wall (as a watchman) and to hold that specific post.
Just as one news reporter cannot report every “breaking news story” around the world, neither can you pray into every single urgent prayer request that comes across your text thread, social media feed, or the last ZOOM call that you were on.
I find it helpful to take some of the requests that move my heart and to write them down. Then I will take those written requests and pray in the Spirit over them. I trust that the Holy Spirit knows how to pray and to encompass them all far better than I can. I also add my family and personal requests at that time.
I bring them all together to the feet of Jesus, pray in the Spirit, and worship him for who he is. As he leads, specific ones will be highlighted with wisdom and guidance of how precisely to pray.
This has lifted a great burden off of my life. I cannot carry all the urgent matters but HE CAN! I can bring them to him— even the unwritten and unspoken ones because he knows those as well. Nothing escapes his attention. There is a wonderful grace that is given for those specific things that he has asked us to partner with him to carry and they don’t (and shouldn’t) feel like a burden— but rather a privilege.
One of my favorite prayers is found in Matthew 6, where Jesus instructs us how to pray. Verse ten truly is the finest prayer that we can pray,
You kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
We each need to be aware of a “savior complex” that can easily come upon us that says that if we don’t pray into that specific issue then the enemy will have his way. God will assign someone (probably many people) to that issue if it is not you.
I love the truths found in Psalm 33,
“The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations and thwarts all their schemes. But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken.
What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance. The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race.
From his throne he observes all who live on the earth. He made their hearts, so he understands everything they do.
The best-equipped army cannot save a king, nor is great strength enough to save a warrior. Don’t count on your warhorse to give you victory— for all its strength, it cannot save you.
But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love. He rescues them from death and keeps them alive in times of famine.
We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.” Psalms 33:10-22
Trust in God is a prayer that never ceases. Hope is a posture that releases authority. The fear of the Lord is a mighty force to be reckoned with. Worship is a weapon that brings joy. And finally, surrender to the strength of the Lord is our confident victory.
Kathi’s new book SEVEN LETTERS, has just been released. Within the pages of this book is the counsel of the Lord for His Church— yesterday, today, and forever.
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This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Inscribe Ministries
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