As I read a chapter in Piercing the Darkness, I found myself reading with a new perspective. The chapter I was reading was talking about a father whose wife had passed away and he had prayed over a little girl who he believed had demons influencing her actions and words in school. (He was a school teacher at a Christian school). Later on, the mother of the girl found out about it, took it as abuse and turned him in. Subsequently, his two children were removed from his home and were placed in foster care by CPS. During his legal battle with this situation, he ran into several forces against him. Demonic forces. Forces that were hard to reckon with; actually impossible to reckon with, except for the power of prayer. As time went on, he realized when his prayer life slipped, the battle began to be lost. This wasn't simple prayer, like just praying a small, "Lord, please help me today and help my children to get to come back to me soon." The type of prayer this took was a literal battle.
This part in the book struck really close to home as I have had CPS investigate my home and my children and myself, when my 2 1/2 year old son broke his leg. My son was just being a boy and did what I like to call "Supermanned" himself off the very top of our couch onto the floor. He landed just right, where it snapped his femur in two. We called 911 and they came to transfer him to the nearest hospital where police and CPS were waiting for us. I was completely taken back, because I love my kids. I had no clue his broken bone was going to lead us down this path. Later, we found out it was just protocol for a hospital to call CPS and police if a child has a broken bone and they're under the age of 5 years old. We got transferred to a Children's Hospital that specialized in setting children's broken bones and the doctors and nurses were very reassuring to us, while CPS swarmed around us, hounded us with questions and grilled us with confusing paperwork, etc. The mother in me was screaming inside, "I'm a good mom! I never intended on this happening! Why am I being called out for abuse when I have never laid a hand on my children!" Oh the heartache!
While we were in the hospital with our son, we saw two other small children under the age of 4 come in with the same type of break. That was somewhat relieving to know that our child wasn't a rare case! The doctor told us that a child can break a femur by just twisting the ankle "just right" or shall we say "just wrong" and fall and it could cause the bone to break. Scary!
I say all this to come back to prayer.
I found myself praying non-stop, literally battling in prayer, asking, begging, pleading with God to help us. As CPS continued to talk to us, I could see some concerns, and I could see some relief. It varied from moment to moment. I knew several other people were battling in prayer with us, and I knew that we needed every single prayer and kept asking people to keep praying.
Sometimes it takes a desperate situation to realize that prayer is really our biggest weapon against the enemy. Prayer can be tiring! At least I found it was, while I was in the middle of this battle. I was already tired from the emotional stress of the whole ordeal, people constantly talking to me, asking me questions, my little man just crying in pain, my daughter being fussy, driving late at night and getting lost in a not so good area of town, etc, etc, etc. When did I have time to pray? But I found that prayer was my best friend. I felt calm, collected, clear minded when I prayed. I felt the forces against us moving back the more I prayed. It was a challenge! But it was worth it. Totally worth it.
So when you find yourself in that desperate situation, realize; hey, I've got forces out against me. But I have so many other forces here WITH me. Be willing to fight. Pray. Pray. Pray. Never stop praying. Give 100% and thensome. And just don't stop.
I like to imagine it like this...There is the black side, just rumbling, tumbling, boiling with demons, all trying to grab at me, speak words of discouragement and fear into my heart. They're all waiting for a chance to get at me, hurt me, accuse me, destroy me, and pull me into their black, despairing hole. Then I see myself, with the beautiful, strong angels standing next to me, and Jesus looking down, smiling, whispering words of peace, love, joy, hope, LIFE, and encouragement. When I start to give in to listening to the black side, they start advancing on me...coming closer and closer, tearing at my heart and mind. But as soon as I start praying, there is an invisible wall that is built up around me, and they can only come so close and bounce off that wall, like a ball bounces when you throw it.
Prayer is a powerful, powerful weapon; it's a gift Jesus has given us. So take advantage of it. Embrace prayer. It'll change your life and keep you safe.
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