During my husband’s time in the Army, we were well supported by a wonderful Armed Forces’ Christian Union prayer group led by a retired general and his wife. They were a caring and very faithful team, and we know many of their prayers for us were answered. Aware of what a blessing it had been for our whole family, we had no hesitation in offering prayer support to others when my husband retired.
We now have the privilege of praying regularly for two military chaplains and their families. Every month we call in their requests so that we can focus on what is important to them. We hear regularly from one family; responses from the other are more intermittent, no doubt due to the pressures of military life.
Towards the end of 2022, we hadn’t heard from the second family for several months. However, we were aware that they were wrestling with important life decisions, especially trying to discern where God was leading them next. Without any pointers, we asked God to guide us in our prayers for this family since He knew what was happening to them. As we were praying, we felt a strange Bible verse come into our heads: “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mt 16:23). God had given us verses and pictures for them in the past which had seemed very helpful and uplifting, but this seemed a very awkward one to pass on. We decided to email it to them anyway, saying that we were offering it in faith, but asking them to test it too.
Almost immediately we had an excited reply. The verse had been spot on! They had been plagued by doubts about a particular direction God was drawing them into, but which ticked all their boxes. It had seemed almost too good to be true. They now felt that the doubts they had were not of God and they could take the path being prepared for them. It is incredibly humbling to know that our all-powerful God loves to use us to speak to others. And in doing so, he raises the faith both of those praying and those being prayed for.
*Photo Credit: https://www.pexels.com/@markus-winkler-1430818