Praying Through A Battle

I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. . . taste and see that the Lord is good.  Psalm 34:4,8

The small coastal town of Rockport, Texas holds a lot of special memories in my heart as a little girl who grew into a teenager. What used to be a sleepy community on the gulf coast exploded into a sought out place on the Texas map. Before the hub bub, my parents secured a home on a canal of Flamingo Road.

I dreaded the almost 3 hour drive although the Dairy Queen in Port Lavaca broke up the monotony with a Dilly bar. I discovered Dilly Bars remain a novelty item. These days the ice cream on a stick covered with chocolate can be purchased for $1.49. No telling how few dimes they were in my days.

When we rounded the corner after the bridge and turned onto Flamingo Road I knew we arrived at our coastal home. I flung open the front door and ran to greet the canal. The canal created many hours of fun for me as a kid- carrying us via boat out into the bay to ski or cruise, providing hours of entertainment on rafts and jumping off poles to offering an outlet for an afternoon sweet treat.

How did the canal facilitate a tasty sweet for this city girl gone coastal? Let me explain.

The store at the marina contained a boatload of candy. The marina sat directly across the canal from our home. The distance across the canal made the marina easy to reach. To get there on foot required a much longer trek down the street and around the corner and down another street. The roundabout route also required parental help.

As kids we figured out how to get to the marina. We begged our parents for money and then swam across the canal with one hand furiously doing dog paddle and the other as a fist in the air tightly holding our money so as not to get it wet. Our mission to the marina many times meant a fried pie (cherry was my favorite). After buying, we swam back across the canal with a fist in the air holding our treasured treat and the other arm doing double time to get us to the other side. Sheer joy bubbled up when we reached the dock and gulped down the sweets with satisfaction.

I think of crossing the canal when I think of battling in prayer for something or someone. We prevail in prayer when we simply jump in the canal, knowing that getting to the other side will mean giving it our all. We may experience the current of spiritual battle or losing strength in paddling for a particular person or situation.

Yet we keep our fingers tightly wound around the promises of His Word, holding them high as a treasure. Just like the reward of a fried cherry pie, we experience a new taste of God’s goodness and presence through the battle.

Sister, what can I join you in praying for?

~Laura

 

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