2019 has been a year of contending!

I didn’t really understand that!

Until the last few weeks, when I felt the Holy Spirit ask me to study God’s Word from the view of contending in prayer.

Instantly, I assumed my study would include passages about contending against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms as described in Ephesians 6, where we are instructed about putting on our spiritual armor and how to use our spiritual weapons.

Yet, from the start, God led me in a different direction. So, this week, I looked up the definition of contending. There, I realized God not only wants us to contend against our enemies, but He longs to show us how to contend on behalf of others—our family, our friends, our allies, and even our enemies.

In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, I found that contend means to maintain, to assert, to struggle for, to contest. And, in the Longman Dictionary contend is defined this way: to argue or to state that something is true…

Yes! This is absolutely what God has been teaching me! And, as I learn how to contend in prayer for others, I see the same patterns, again and again, in the prayers of the patriarchs, the prophets, the disciples, and the Lord Jesus.

One of my favorite examples, is the prayer of Nehemiah after his brother reports to him that his people are in great trouble and disgrace and that the wall of Jerusalem has been torn down.

Nehemiah 1:3-10 says,

They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. Then I said, “O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses. Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’” “The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you.”

From Nehemiah’s prayer, I see that to contend in prayer

  • we will approach God our hearts RENT with empathy, passion and concern

    I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed

  • we must approach God with great awe and REVERENCE

    “O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands…”

  • we can approach God with sincere petitions and heartfelt REQUESTS

    listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel.

  • we must approach God with REPENTANCE for ourselves and for others

    I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us

  • we will approach God to REMIND Him of the truths He has declared and the promises He has made

    Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’

  • We need to approach God REMEMBERING all He has done, as well as what He can and will do again

    The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you.

This year, like never before, I have spent longs days and nights praying for loved and dear ones who are sick or feel stuck or are struggling with fears, anxieties and habits passed down to them from past generations.

I love the passion, reverence, humility, vulnerability, faith, and confidence with which Nehemiah petitions God on behalf of his family and his tribe. I love his pattern of prayer, and I confess that I am weakest in my confession of sin, for myself and others.

Thank God, I am learning and growing in my understanding of contending in prayer! I am encouraged and challenged, as I hope and pray you will be too.