Unearthly Battles

Matthew 18:18-20

If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them. (Matthew 18:19-20)

REES HOWELLS WAS KNOWN FOR his remarkable intercession, and the stories of how God responded to his requests are powerful and captivating. But later in life, after Howells had learned the secrets of intercession, seen individual lives changed, served as a missionary, and developed a college in Wales for ministry training, he turned his attention to international affairs and the events of World War II. “The world became our parish and we were led to be responsible to intercede for countries and nations,” he wrote of his small band of intercessors who committed to pray with him.^a The correlations between the prayers of his group and the headlines of the day are remarkable—some of Hitler’s inexplicable decisions make more sense in light of a divine hand—and though historians are compelled to explain each turn of events in natural terms of cause and result, a spiritual battle was taking place that dramatically paralleled the earthly battles in the great global war. The prayers of God’s people turned the tide of history.

Not many Christians really understand that. We tend to rationalize our unanswered prayers and lose our focus when we don’t see immediate results, as if God’s workings would always be visible to our eyes or answered within our time frames. Yet history is full of examples of prayers that made a difference decades later or even in future generations. If Scripture teaches us anything, it’s that God is a master builder who layers his work year after year, generation after generation, and era after era. Sometimes we see what he is doing in “real time,” but often we don’t. We have to have faith like the saints of old, who saw the promises and plans of his Kingdom from a distance through spiritual eyes (Hebrews 11:13).

Live with that perspective, and pray your heart out. The workings of this world depend on the divine hand, which is moved by the prayers and faith of God’s people. You have the capacity to effect tomorrow’s world today, and one day the fruitfulness of your prayers will be revealed.

{Lord, lift my vision to see beyond my own immediate needs and interests. Call me to a lifestyle of world-changing prayer. Let the headlines serve as my prayer list, and let my prayers prompt victories I may never see. Amen.