Are you too overwhelmed to pray?

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the intensity of the current events that continue to fill the airwaves and internet? I know I have at times, and the feeling of oppression that accompanies the state of being overwhelmed often pressurizes believers into back off of praying for our nation. I imagine that they might feel like grasshoppers before such seemingly insurmountable circumstances facing the country, and as a result, could be tempted to retreat from praying about the issues at all.

In the Bible, the majority of the men sent in to spy out Canaan were overwhelmed by what they saw. They said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us” (Numbers 13:31b).

And yet Caleb, who had declared, “We should by all means go up and possess the land, for we will surely overcome it” (Numbers 13:30b), was commended by God who described him as having a different spirit in following after Him fully (see Numbers 14:24).

Many hold back on interceding about current events due to the fear of praying against the will of God. After all, are we not in the end times—the days of difficulty? Shouldn’t we expect things to go from bad to worse? If we pray against such things, won’t we be in danger of attempting to thwart the plan of God?

Jesus said that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy (see John 10:10a). Many of the events we are witnessing clearly fall into those categories, so when you pray to thwart such things, you are not praying against God but against the master of stealing, killing, and destroying, the devil. And remember, the Lord did not condemn the man mentioned in a parable for pulling his sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath (see Matthew 12:11-12). Instead, this man’s mercy on the innocent animal was acknowledged by Jesus as appropriate despite the seemingly taboo timing of the rescue. In light of this, are we called to turn a blind eye to creeping agendas of lawlessness meant to ensnare our neighbors and countrymen when we have been given the power in prayer to bind and loose? (See Matthew 18:18.)

The Bible calls you more than a conqueror (see Romans 8:37) even now, even when things seem to be falling apart. As you refuse to cast away your confidence (see Hebrews 10:35), you will find that the prayers you pray will become bolder, more targeted, and more saturated with Scripture.

It is written in two places in the Old Testament that God sought for an intercessor but found none (Isaiah 59:16, Ezekiel 22:30). Be found of Him, willing to take a stand in prayer about those things in the nation that grip your heart. Then, if Jesus returns in your life, He will be able to say that He did, indeed, find faith on the earth, for He found it in you.

Dorothy