To be Forewarned is to be Forearmed

There is a popular television commercial in which a person gets a preview of their day, showing the glitches, disasters and irritations ahead of them. After being forewarned of everything from daughter rolling her eyes at mom’s wardrobe advice, to having a flat tire and the elevator being out, the subject, glass in hand, says calmly, “It’s a good thing I had my orange juice!”

I thought about that as the visiting missionary was speaking at church Sunday evening. After telling us about his ministry and after his young daughter sang a tender little song followed by a solo from his wife, the speaker said he wanted to give a short lesson on prayer. He started by saying that while there are many different types of prayer, he wanted to focus on three.

There is the prayer of desperation, the kind many of us are used to praying. When something goes wrong, we quickly call on God to HELP us! David prayed this kind of prayer often. In Psalm 64:1, he prays, “Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.” And in Psalm 61, he beseeches, “Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.” We have no trouble calling out to God in times of desperation.

Then there is the prayer of perspiration, one of hard work and perseverance. But we are promised: “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint,” Isaiah 40:29-31.

Jesus was praying like this when in Luke 22:44, it records: “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground.”

Guidelines for the prayer of preparation are given in Ephesians 6:10-18, when we are told to put on the whole armour of God. This includes the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

If we pray the prayer of preparation at the beginning of our day, and are strengthened by prayers of perspiration, we may be less likely to have to pray in desperation, having been equipped against “the fiery darts of the wicked,” or anything else life throws at us. Kind of like drinking your orange juice.