The Shadow of Your Wings

I sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings; my soul clings close to You ... Ps 63:7,8 JB

Dynamite!

flutterby | July 13, 2008 22:17

An article in the most recent issue of a favorite magazine has impressed such a picture on my mind that I want to share it. The author is writing about intercessory prayer and the idea of such prayers “moving mountains.” *

We often see, especially during our recent trip through the Ozarks, mountainsides that have been blasted away to accommodate new roadways. The process is one that fascinates me in its simplicity and brilliance. According to precise calculations deep holes are drilled into the hilltops into which sticks of dynamite are placed. When detonated the portion of mountain that has been properly drilled and prepared literally slides off in a (hopefully) neat sheet of rock. Mountain moved - at least in part. The process continues until finally a passage is cleared and the traveller is free to move on down the road.

Cathy Eskew, the writer of this article, explains that our prayers for others when properly placed , serve as the shafts drilled by the engineers. When the explosive, in this application, dunamis - the power of God (and coincidentally the root word for dynamite) is dropped into the hole - BOOM! Mountain moved!

“Over time, we cover the problem with prayer and wait for the moment when God detonates His will and the hardness of the situation crumbles.” “… when God detonates His will …”  What a powerful image.

The work of intercession is difficult, drilling through hardened hearts, the rocky ground of the situations for which we intercede; it is often painfully slow, rarely does a mountain side slip off with one drilling, and the holes need to be perfectly positioned to accomplish the task. Every intercessor knows that he/she will often spend as much time asking how to pray as praying for that which has been laid upon the heart. God knows precisely where and how deep the auger must go, and the exact moment He intends to cause the explosion.

Have we done the work given to us? The clearing away of debris, warning bystanders, holding steadfastly to the drill, patiently moving to each new site as the Spirit leads … In the words of the writer, “This kind of praying isn’t for wimps. … But what an adventure to pray and then watch that slab of rock shatter!”

KA BOOM!

* Moving Mountains by Cathy Eskew can be read in its entirety in the July/August 2008 issue of Discipleship Journal

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