Monday, September 15, 2014

Praying Is Subversive Activity (Prayer Summer 2014)

Driving on I-75 north of Monroe
Praying far transcends the kind of "prayer" that people "don't have time for." To pray is to establish the rule of God in my heart and circumstances, thereby dethroning all things that would want to reign over me.

Praying is revolutionary activity whereby I revolt against pretenders to the throne. In the act of praying I join forces with the underground movement, the "seed growing secretly society" that subverts this world's false ideologies. 

Praying is a Trojan horse. It seems harmless and is allowed to enter the city.

Eugene Peterson writes:

"Prayer is subversive activity. It involves a more or less open act of defiance against any claim by the current regime.... [As we pray,] slowly but surely, not culture, not family, not government, not job, not even the tyrannous self can stand against the quiet power and creative influence of God's sovereignty. Every natural tie of family and race, every willed commitment to person and nation is finally subordinated to the rule of God."

- Eugene H. Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction Kindle Locations 104-106) 

A praying person endangers the powers of darkness.