Often, what seems so important to us in the moment isn’t actually what matters most.
I had a dream that I was watching over a people as “guardian of the heart of what matters most.” But I had grown weary in the task. They didn’t want the Lord’s protection, and they didn’t want me.
He had sent me there to train them up in prayer and how to protect against enemy attacks. But they wanted a “real” guard, like in the movies, the kind of protection the world seeks. So they ordered a mail-order guard — a tall, sexy blonde with all kinds of knives and gadgets that made her look tough—weapons she had no plan to use for protecting them, but rather for gaining access to their homes to steal what matters most to them.
In my weariness, I was ready to move on, to be done with this assignment, especially since I didn’t fit in with what they thought of as “protection.” But the Lord asked me to stay, to continue guarding them, especially now that they had invited the enemy in.
I’m sharing this with you, especially those of you who have joined this Prayer Wall with the desire to fight for what matters most. Because it’s easy to see all the pain and violence in the world and feel like your prayers don’t matter. But they do. They matter to the One who called you to this task. And they matter to those whose lives He will change because you prayed.
“I have placed you here for a reason. And it is not yet finished,” I heard the Lord say.
Those we pray for may yet make many bad decisions. But He has called us to be faithful in prayer, both for the people of God and for those who have yet to believe. He has called us, as guardians of the heart of the matter, to fight for them until they truly believe He is who He says He is and begin living what they were created for.
As I journaled the dream, the Lord delivered a word for those we have been praying for (and perhaps, also, for some of us!). Here it is at my blog:
With Me
Lord, remind us that following You has never been about how many people want us in their lives or whether or not we look like what they think we should. And prayer is not about whether or not anyone responds to our fighting for them. This life has only ever always been about You. Your character is so evident in Your Word, that You pursue us — every one of us — relentlessly, not desiring any of us to perish but all of us to know of Your great love. 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 1:16. Even those You know will reject You, You pursue all the same. And so we ask You, sweet God of relentless love, to give us that same tenacity to love those who oppose us — who oppose YOU. Even when it seems they don’t want You and have already chosen their road into eternal darkness, give us Your love to press on in prayer and continue to lay them before Your throne. Our words can’t change a heart, but Your love can. You can show up in their dreams, speak to them throughout the day, bring them down to hit rock bottom so they will finally see their need for You. Remind us to pray. Bring all the more prayer warriors in as guardians of the heart of the matter, to pray for all eyes to turn to You and be saved, and for Your church to finally be set free from all the things that have held us back from more of You. Remind me that it starts with me: Will I faithfully follow after You, even when things are hard? Even when others tell me how wrong I am? Even when the outcome doesn’t look like I had hoped it would? Empower me to pray, Lord, to join You in what You’re doing. For my reward was never supposed to be about what I can see, but about the hope of Heaven. You are my Treasure, Lord. I place my hope in You.
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Mikaela Vincent and her husband are missionaries who live by faith, trusting in God to provide for their needs as they pray for and share Christ with the nations. If you would like to help their ministry through a donation, or by finding gifts for those you love at Mikaela’s online bookstore, click the buttons below:
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