“And what is the exceeding greatness of His power
toward us who believe, according to the working
of His mighty power”
– Ephesians 1:19 –
Did you know that camels can kneel? It is said that travelers who use them in the desert make these animals kneel in order to load or unload their burdens. As travelers of life through this wilderness of sin, we would do very well to imitate the camels and kneel before our Divine Master so He can arrange our burdens and help us carry them, resting in His promises.
For this, we have prayer. Continuing with the list we made two days ago, we could state the following:
- Prayer is essential in the conflict against the enemy. Paul knew that in our struggle against evil is against principalities, against powers, against dominions, and against evil spirits (see Eph. 6:12). He was convinced that believers need God’s supernatural armor to resist, as is described in Ephesians 6.
Prayer is one of the fundamental pieces of that armor, and is essential for not giving up and moving forward. This is why he counsels the following in Ephesians 6:18: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perserverance and supplication for all saint.” Prayer is the most powerful spiritual weapon, and helps us overcome. - Prayer allows us to know God’s will. In Paul’s first recorded prayer, he already seeks to do what God asks: “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (Acts 9:6). This is an experience that we should all imitate. Prayer is not a fight with God so that His will can adapt to ours, but that ours is adapted to His. To pray is to discern, affirm, and participatein doing His will against the perverse influence of the devil’s power.
- Prayer and the eternal. Being in contact with God elevates us to think about things in Heaven and not those of this world. The apostle places his focus on the eternal and not on the temporal, not fixing our eyes “on what is seen, but on what is unseen” (2 Cor. 4:18).
Our personal spiritual life and mission can be as successful as Paul’s. To achieve that, it is necessary to renew our life of prayer and make it a priority.
You do not have to carry your burdens alone anymore.
Kneel now. Be a camel today.
God bless you…