You can't tell to look at them, but a fragile saint on the next pew may be a mighty dragon slayer in God's unseen kingdom.

    My grandmother was a prayer warrior.  She started on her knees every morning at 5 AM.  Now, I follow in her footsteps.  It's a lonely path.  It involves dwelling in Gethsemane with Jesus, sweating blood in aligning one's spirit with God's will.  It's a mysterious occupation.  If we ponder the theology too much, we wonder why God in His all-encompassing, perfect will, expects us to pray and intercede for ourselves and others.

     The Apostle Paul said that prayer is effective for pulling down spiritual strongholds (Eph. 6). After 30 years of walking with God, I often distinctly know when He is exhorting me to pray a certain way for a certain person.  When the Holy Spirit moves on me in such a way, the prayer certainly comes about. 

     On other occasions, I'm praying in the dark without a clue about the outcome.  And so often I earnestly desire to know the outcome!  However, I'm supposed to trust in the Lord with all my heart, not leaning on human understanding. 

     There is a certain knowledge when God calls us to prayer--a sureness built on the things that we know God Himself desires.  When we pray for salvation, for Christians in foreign lands, for the healing of broken marriages--these things we can pray for with full assurance. 

     When the prayer pertains to future plans, or prosperity, or even health, our spiritual ears must open wide.  Jesus called us to suffer with Him--take up our crosses and follow.  So it's harder to pray for health and wealth unless God in some way gets the glory.      Surely the underlying principal of prayer is simply conversing with God.  It takes a pile of praying to get our earthly selves to be conscious of the King's heavenly will.  Time spent in His presence makes every breath and every moment a joy.  We trade our burdens for His light yoke.  We cast off our filthy rags for righteous robes.  What a bargain!  A little time with God, and we eagerly forgive those who have wronged us.  We even forgive ourselves.  Spiritual warfare brings dark stronghold down in rubble, and we step out into the Kingdom of light.      When I was a child spending the week with Grandma, I would peer at her as she prayed.  Then she would read her Bible for 30 minutes or so, and quietly head out to garden, leaving me snoozing.  Now I know Who called her up so early.  No wonder my grandmother always arose from her knees aglow, ready to conquer the world!