We had the fun this morning of pulling all the middle school football players together for our team photo today. Always exciting to line these boys up according to their numbers and get them ready. They looked great!
The big question came up from one of the players. Then the debate was sparked. I have no idea what the team decided. All this will be a surprise to me when the pictures come back. One of the boys asked loudly, "Do we smile?"
It hit me that these young athletes in some sense know they are preparing for battle. Sure the battle is brief with limited time periods and officials and rules to maintain order. But it is a battle none the less.
As a believer I am in a battle every day! This needs to be reminded to us. Reminds me of something Piper writes that prayer is...
A Wartime Walkie-Talkie, Not a Domestic Intercom. Prayer
is the walkie-talkie on the battlefield of the world. It calls on God for
courage (Ephesians 6:19).
It calls in for troop deployment and target location (Acts 13:1, 2,
3). It calls in for
protection and air cover (Matthew
6:13; Luke 21:36).
It calls in for firepower to blast open a way for the Word (Colossians 4:3). It calls in
for the miracle of healing for the wounded soldiers (James 5:16). It calls in for supplies for the
forces (Matthew 6:11; Philippians 4:6). And it calls
in for needed reinforcements (Matthew
9:38). This is the place of prayer—on the battlefield of the world. It
is a wartime walkie-talkie for spiritual warfare, not a domestic intercom to
increase the comforts of the saints. And one of the reasons it malfunctions in
the hands of so many Christian soldiers is that they have gone AWOL. (Piper,
J. The Pleasures of God: Meditations on God's delight in Being God. Page 343-372.
Sisters, Or.: Multnomah Publishers)
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