Paralyzed in fear or posed in prayer? Which will it be today? I ask this of myself. Will I spend more time staying updated on the spread of the virus or the spread of the gospel? Will I spend more time fixated on symptoms or the heart of the matter? Panic is the reaction, fear is a symptom, the issue is a heart problem. Where does our love lie? Where do we put our hope? If nothing ever stays the same or goes back to normal, will I still praise His name? The Lord is calling us close, asking us to be completely and utterly satisfied in Him. It begins in our homes, our families, our communities. Living with a spirit of power and love and self-control. Believing in His power above all. Claiming our hearts for His own, He pours His peace into our lives. It doesn’t make sense right now. This earth, the unseen, the unknown, the fear. But He calms the storms, He is the steadfast love in the morning and the faithfulness as the sun sets. He is sure. He does not promise safety or security or healing here on earth, but He overcomes the broken. He has conquered death. Makes all the wrongs into right. He lights up the darkness and declares it His own. He loves us. Isn’t that enough? Just for today, isn’t that enough? Can I choose to be fully satisfied in Him, even if nothing else works out? Even if, everything else goes crazy and wrong? Today I choose to be in a posture of prayer. On my knees, fighting. Warrior pose, on my knees. We are not canceling events because of fear, but because of love. We show love by respecting neighbors and friends and our community. We do not let this get us down, rather we get down to let the Lord lift us up. Down on our knees, bowed before our Servant King. The one who showed us real love by being True Love. By doing the hard and uncomfortable thing. Love.
We do not sit idely by, sheltered between four walls, passing time. We bear down, tuck-in to the Father’s arms. Take on the warrior’s pose of prayer and go after it, illness, disease, unseen and seen, evils and lies, fears and worries and anxieties. All of it call our name, slinks its way into our mind frame and thought life and fights for our hearts. Today, one day at a time, moment by moment, we fight the earthly desires to hunker down and wait. Instead, we bow down and pray. We wait only on the Lord, His love to be made known in our stance in the uncertainty of the chaos of the crazy of the broken world. We stand firm where roots run deep as the storms of the world threaten to shake us to the core.
We practice prayer because prayer is still a mystery. We practice prayer because we long to be close to the One who calls us His Beloved. We practice prayer because we are imperfect. We practice prayer to leave behind a legacy of prayer, of love, of humility.
Today, we practice prayer to calm the fear, to fight the despair. As the sun rises, we praise the Lord for His steadfast love. As it sets, we praise Him for His faithfulness. And in between? In between, we live our lives. On our knees, washing dishes, rocking babies, trusting our Father.
Today I will take on the posture of prayer and fight the paralyzing fear that threatens to ruin my day and take over my life. Warrior pose on my knees, prayers lifted to our Almighty Loving Father.
Here are some promises from God’s word.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the nigth is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. Psalm 139:1-12
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angles nor rulers, nor things persent nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalms 91:1