“O. C. D.”? You Say That Like It’s a Bad Thing

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness … Galatians 5:22

Today marks (approximately) the twentieth anniversary of a “calling” I sensed, which resulted in a commitment I have kept meticulously every night, as though lives depended on it. Maybe they do …

On July 7, 2005, London was under attack by terrorists. Three bombs went off in the subway, and a fourth exploded on a double-decker bus. Dozens of people were killed and others injured. This attack was still on my mind, “for some reason,” as I sat on the beach July 20, watching my children playing in the waves of Lake Michigan.

As I prayed for the injured and the families who had lost loved ones, I felt frustrated and angry. Why were we always praying about these things after the fact? Wasn’t there some way we could pray to prevent them from happening in the first place?

My pastor had preached a message I have never forgotten, about making prayer specific. To pray some vague, general prayer such as “God bless America!” he said, was like randomly firing a shotgun and hoping to hit something. (How can you hit your target, when you don’t have one?) On the other hand, a specific prayer is more like a well-aimed rifle. It will hit its target more often – and we can then respond with specific thanks and praise! (And, knowing me, I would write a blog piece about it. 😉 ) An extremely specific, fervent prayer, the pastor said, is like a laser beam that can cut through steel!

That day I wanted to pray that kind of prayer, but how could I? No one knew specifically who the terrorists were, where they were, or what they had planned next.

So, how do I narrow down my prayer? I asked the Lord. Immediately the Still, Small Voice spoke to my heart (not audibly),

Pray against what they have planned for today.

So, for the next few minutes I prayed for those responsible that day for protecting people and tracking down the perpetrators, for those who were the targets of terrorism and even for the terrorists themselves. I prayed that the terrorists’ communications would fail, that their weapons would malfunction, and that their bombs would be “duds.” I prayed the terrorists would be caught, even that they would repent and be saved. It turned out I could pray a lot of specific things if I narrowed them down to just that day.

The following day, July 21, 2005 the news came that there had again been a series of bombing attacks on London, all of which failed. I was stunned, realizing that when we know next to nothing about our enemies, prayer is the most powerful weapon we have. I also realized that “that was yesterday,” and that I should pray again for “today.” And I have been meticulously (obsessively) praying that way ever since. The prayer has evolved to include children being indoctrinated in terrorist training camps and women who are would-be suicide bombers, who don’t know God loves them just as much as He does the men and doesn’t want them killing themselves, their children, or anyone else.

Have these prayers been answered over the past twenty years? I have a file folder full of articles – just the ones I’ve seen and saved – about thwarted terrorist attacks, some foiled by the authorities and some stopped by ordinary citizens who saw/heard people acting “suspicious.” Some failed because the explosives didn’t detonate, and some failed because the perpetrator had a change of heart. Those are my favorite stories – where a former would-be terrorist is now a child of God – an evangelist, a church planter, an igniter of revival!

Do I think I personally have stopped terrorists? No, or course not! … well, not exactly. I do believe in the power of prayer, otherwise I would not have prayed the same prayer over 7,000 times and would not be planning to continue. I do believe there’s power in consistent prayer and prayer by many people, and if an act of terror occurred because only 99 people prayed against it and 100 prayer warriors could have stopped it, I don’t want to be the weak link. Of course, GOD is the One who answers those prayers, but for whatever reason, I believe He honors consistency and unity.

I usually pray [these prayers] at night, because if/when I resolved to pray in the morning, there was always something to distract me or make me forget, so I just have a rule that I don’t lie down until I’ve covered our nation, leaders, military, intelligence, security, law enforcement, targets, and the terrorists themselves in prayer. If I am especially tired, it’s hard and might take an hour to pray what I should have been able to pray in eight minutes.

Does this sound a bit obsessive to you? I agree. In certain areas I have a tendency to be “consistent” to a fault. – Other times it seems I’m so scatterbrained I couldn’t be consistent if my life depended on it. (Go figure.) But there are a few selected things I have committed to that I believe I am called to do, and I keep my promise to an extent that at times can be almost embarrassing.

But lately I have wondered if the Lord might deliberately pick the obsessive among us to entrust with the assignments that He wants done. After all, He created some of us, and I have to believe He had His reasons, other than for humorous characters in TV shows.

Do you have any quirks that you sometimes wish you didn’t have? Personality traits that puzzle or even irritate other people? Are you irritated by others’ unusual characteristics? Do you ever wish God would change those people – or change you?

Well, here’s another question: Does God make mistakes?

Prayer: Lord God, who created me, help me to cooperate with You in changing the things about me that You want to change. Help me to accept the things about me that I don’t particularly like, but that You put in me for a reason. And give me the discernment to know the difference.

P. S. For the weirdest “coincidence” related to this assignment, see (reread) the story I posted a few years ago:

https://seekingdivineperspective.com/2020/01/03/worth-repeating/