I know summer is coming, football season is over but I had to use this analogy. I love football because of its intensity, grit and the endurance factor involved. It correlates a lot to Christianity and a life of prayer in particular.
Prayer is an “offensive” action most times taken after one has been on the defensive so long that they realize they must gain ground in their offensive game. It’s like a football game where the team takes on a defensive strategy and never advances or gains ground on the offense. They may easily lose should the other team score just three points because their only strategy was “good defense”.
As much as I love to hate Tom Brady and the Patriots, I can’t help but admire the way they execute on offense. It is like a well oiled machine, delivering precise blows against the schemes of the opposing team with a set destination in mind. I never count them out until the game clock says 0:00!!
I want to be that type of Christian.
They bible says ‘weeping may endure through the night but joy comes in the morning light’ (Psalm 30:5). Our prayer strategy should be such that the demons we fight in our proverbial ‘night’ are totally annihilated in ‘the morning light’ as we advance to take the territory they occupied in the spirit realm. Offensive prayers advance the Kingdom by gaining ground in the spirit realm over those things which torment and prevent us from making progress. The next time we look in that direction we should see the image of God represented and a holy, sanctified space. Then we know we’ve gained ground.
We should pray fervently so that we know that we have disrupted hell’s agenda for our lives and at the same time taken ground against him and are on our way to score a spiritual ‘touchdown’.
They say ‘defense wins championships and offense sells tickets’ but in God’s economy, the best defense is a good offense which we build up by gaining as much ground as possible from the devil every chance we get. This way, we spend less time on defense and more time finding areas of captivity where we can go on the offensive, uproot the works of the enemy, and take ground for the Kingdom of God.
Prayer gives us power. It is the key to the door that unlocks our heavenly promises. Prayer is the standard bearer of our Christianity, the litmus test of our spiritual lives, the correct ph value for our chemical balance. It is the perfect equation for a balanced life and the measuring rod for our relationship with God.
Defensive prayers will keep us from harm but offensive prayers will move us forward.
We must pray. Always. I pray that God helps us to pray fervently, sincerely and earnestly. I pray that daily we shall find our refuge in His presence and there find peace of mind, soul and Spirit. I pray that God shall make us mighty people of prayer, a mighty example to our generations, not for show, not for fame, but for His glory and purely so.
Let us build our spiritual muscle and strength in moments of prayer. Let us find the Lord in a deeper sense and in so doing discover His will and purpose and the territory He intends for us to reclaim for His name’s sake. Defensive prayers will keep us from harm but offensive prayer will move us forward. It’s time to go on the offensive.
Nelson Masinde 