[Widget_Twitter id=”1″]
The arrow was flying fast and straight. It should have hit the mark – dead center, but at the last moment a gust of wind knocked it slightly off course. It missed the bull’s-eye completely; in fact, it didn’t even hit the target at all. The archer bellowed loudly, unable to contain his fury. There was no possible way that he could have missed. He had sized up the target, measured, planned, and studied everything that could possibly go wrong.
What had happened to foil his well-laid plan?
How could he tell his commander that he had failed to hit the mark?
He hadn’t even come close. Shoulders slumped and bent in defeat, he turned to walk away when something caught his attention. His eyes swung back to the target, perhaps he hadn’t missed after all….
The wind had stopped, and a light misty rain had begun. Standing in the middle of the field, unharmed, was the target raising her hands. She was dancing and singing praise to her God.
She seemed like such an easy mark. He had been targeting her for weeks, filling her mind with doubt, causing discouragement, and foiling her plans. She seemed so defeated and helpless that he knew the time was right. So, what had caused the wind to move the arrow? He scanned the horizon and saw people praying. Some prayers were simply “Lord, keep her safe, protect her.”
He also recalled that her lips had been moving just moments before he let loose the arrow. He hadn’t thought a thing about it at that moment because there was no audible sound. “What had she been saying?” he wondered. “Why would people be praying for her? She was a nobody.”
Sara’s simple pray was more like a plea, “Lord, Help me!” Life had been really difficult for her lately. Every time she seemed to be making progress at work, something would happen to put her behind schedule, which would then cause problems with relationships at home. Her husband and children didn’t seem to understand; she felt so discouraged and all alone. No one understood, maybe she should just quit. Why did she think should could make a difference when she was just a nobody? How had she gotten here? She felt defeated, discouraged, disillusioned, and alone. Nothing or no one else seemed to notice or care, so she did the only other thing she could. She called out a plea to the Lord.
I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies (Psalms 18:3).
In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears (Psalms 18:6 ).
Sara only had to cry out to the Lord in her distress, and He answered. He stepped in and saved her from the enemy’s arrow.
Sara’s enemy skulked away and as he was reporting his failure to the commander, the commander suddenly stood up, and caught the attention of everyone in the vicinity. “Do you not know that the Lord protects and saves those that call upon his name? But not just that, you obviously didn’t distract the others from their prayers either, even when one prays they have power, but when more pray, we are defeated!”
“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19)
Prayer changes things! No matter how insignificant we may feel our prayers are, when we ‘cry out’ or even speak a prayer for others, GOD HEARS!
Have you ever had a person’s name cross your mind and discounted it or pushed the thought aside?
I am guilty of this very thing. Someone’s name comes across my mind and I think, “I should call or text them. I haven’t seen them in a while.” Then, I simple forget or I just discount it as a random thought and move on with the current task at hand. Later, I find out that they weren’t feeling well, or had something going on around the time, and a call or a quick text would have encouraged them.
God will often gently nudge us to reach out to others at times when they need it the most, but it doesn’t make sense to us. We need to take the time to pray for those whose names cross our minds, and even take the time in the midst of our own daily life to ‘cry out’ to God. He hears. Prayers matter, prayers change things, and prayers make a difference.
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:16b)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints (Ephesians 6:10 – 18).
[Widget_Twitter id=”1″]
GIVEAWAY
You also might want to check out my latest Book Review Monday – Empire’s End plus you can enter the giveaway to win a free copy of Empires End by Jerry B Jenkins
My Post: “Will You Sit with Me?” was featured here:
I have been know to link to the following Inspirational Parties:
Sunday’s
Monday’s
What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings
Tuesday’s
Wednesday’s
Wednesday’s Prayer Girls & Linkup Party
Thursday’s
Serving Joyfully/Thriving Thursday
Friday’s:
Saturday’s:
Love this post! Such a great reminder to allow the Holy Spirit to prompt us to pray and act to benefit others. Many blessings to you ❤️
Beth – thank you so much and thanks for stopping by. Blessings to you too.
Debbie, thank you for being so faithful. Your words were just the encouragement I needed. Confirmation from God that I’m not alone. The person you described was me… Work home, relationships.. it was all me. Hanging on by fingertips… believing… yet if I’m honest, maybe it was more like ‘hoping’. Running into walls in a dark room. No windows. No light, just the heaviness of silence. Memories, mistakes, questions, doubts, unworthiness… all flickering like movies on the screens of my mind. Worthless ruminations, unquiet mind. Peace was a distant river and I could hear it’s sound, but could not make my way to it. Oh, how I was blind to the arrows! How quietly they pierced my heart… I never even saw the bleeding! I now stand armed… God’s might spear in my hand, ready to fight the enemy again. Oh, you thought you had me, didn’t you, you slayer of souls? I must have looked close to death… discouraged and defeated. Too weak to save myself. Ah, but there was still breath in me and through heavy lips I cried out to my God… “Help me!” And at the other end of silence, He reached out and saved me! I praise God for His grace! Thank you, Debbie, for making the invisible ‘visible’ so that I could see. God bless.
Kathy – I am so grateful that the words and vision the Lord gave me to write ministered to you right where you are at. You are not alone, He heard your cry of “Help me” and He will continue to send you encouragement that you are not alone. I will lift you up in prayer right now and every time the Lord brings you to my mind, I will pray. May you feel Gods protection surround you right now and know the enemy is on notice and his arrows will no longer hit the mark. Praying Gods grace, mercy and healing be poured over you right now. God Bless you too, my new friend.
Thank you, Debbie. I feel renewed this morning. I’ve had the weapons of warfare at my disposal but I had allowed myself to be disarmed. Not today. Today I stand with my God. I do appreciate your prayers.
Kathy – I am so happy to hear you are feeling strengthened in the Lord this morning. Prayers are continuing. Blessings and strength to you.
Hey Kathy – Just checking in on your mid-week to make sure you are still going strong and feeling renewed each day! Continuing to pray for you 🙂
Yes, thanks for asking, Debbie! I am doing so much better! I am experiencing Confidence… which is something I have strived my entire life to obtain. All I could ever do in the past was throw a colorful cloak on my shoulders and call it ‘Self-Esteem’. I had a closet full of masks to choose from each day… One was ‘I’m-Whoever-you-Want-Me-To-Be’. Another was ‘Have I Impressed You Yet?’ One of my most used and well worn masks was ‘Don’t You Feel Sorry For Me?’ The strange thing about those masks that I find so striking (now that my head is becoming clear) is that I could never really see beyond them. I was so busy looking at me! But this week has been a gentle stream… a peaceful breeze… a candle’s glow. There has been no Striving! I have been free to just be me… I’m not experiencing confusion, which has been my strongest enemy. I’m trusting and believing again. I’m feeling so much stronger. Thank you for your prayers. And I mean that sincerely because I think this may be the first time that I’ve actually experienced (or at least been aware of) the effect that someone else’s prayers have had on my life! I think it’s the first time I actually BELIEVED that someone else cared enough to go to God on my behalf… and that their prayers would be heard… that I was important enough to them, and to God. Thank you for fresh revelation! For renewed hope! I praise God for you, for His church, and for His abundant grace!
Kathy – I am so happy to hear that strength and confidence are clothing you now! That is so good – and always remember, you don’t need masks – none of us do really, but its a lie we buy in to. It makes me happy to hear you are being freed to be you!!!! That is exactly what God has longed for you from the very beginning – you being you is enough 🙂 You are so welcome for the prayers, and I am excited for what the future holds for you. Thank you for reaching out and thank you words of encouragement and sharing how much you were blessed in return. Blessings and continue Believing and having Hope!
Well, what can I say? God works in ways we cannot see and His ways we may not always understand. But it’s always for our best. 🙂
Lux, yes, God does often work in ways we cannot see – He always knows just what we need exactly when we need it!
Visiting next door from #RaRaLinkup. Love this reminder on the utter power of prayer, and God’s never ending stories of saving us from harm! Wonderful post! Thank you!
Kathy – Thank you for stopping by!
This was an absolutely beautiful reminder, one that I needed to hear. Now especially. Thank you so much. I am here from Women with Intention Wednesday, you are the link before mine, I am thinking God planned it that way. May you be blessed indeed.
Nikki-So very glad you were able to stop by and you received what you needed 🙂
Debbie, this post was great. I loved reading it from the perspective of the enemy and it makes it more real (if I can say that without sounding off or unbiblical?) I think it is because I am such a visual learner and this painted that for me. I too have names comes to mind at times, people laid on my heart and try to pray right then even if I can’t go to them or something right then. I fail at times but this is a reminder of just how important prayer is, and that our presence as believers on this earth is not for not reason. Thanks for linking up at #TeaAndWord yesterday!
Meghan – yes, you can totally say that without sounding off or un-Biblical — I totally understand what you are saying 🙂 I am a visual learner too and so glad that you enjoyed this. Yes, prayers are so important aren’t they, and even if we can’t be with someone face to face, we can still say a prayer or two as we go about our day when the Lord brings them to our remembrance. I will see you next week at #TeaAndWord
debbi – so encouraging – i’m glad you reposted since it was before we “met” online and in person. how did your appts. go? trusting God with all and saying those Help her and help me prayers – thank you for this.
Hi Sue – My appointments were promising – The were interested in my stuff and took it back to their teams … so we shall see, it’s all in Gods hand and His timing. How did yours go? Praying for you too and it was so good to meet you in person 🙂
Great post! Thanks for the reminder!
you are most welcome Ruth – thank you for stopping by