The Fog of Prayer

As I was returning home from the hour of prayer this morning at Church of the Highland’s 21 days of prayer I crossed over Lake Purdy. The sun was just rising and a heavy fog hung on the lake. For some reason it reminded me of the saying “The fog of War”. When I got home I looked up the term on Wikipedia:

From Wikipedia
The fog of war is a term used to describe the level of ambiguity in situational awareness experienced by participants in military operations.[1]
The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability and adversary intent during an engagement, operation or campaign.
Experience
The practical experience of the fog of war is most easily demonstrated in the tactical battlespace. It may include military commanders' incomplete or inaccurate intelligence regarding their enemy's numbers, disposition, capabilities, and intent, regarding features of the battlefield, and even including incomplete knowledge of the state of their own forces. Fog of war is caused by the limits of reconnaissance, by the enemy's feints and disinformation, by delays in receiving intelligence and difficulties passing orders, and by the difficult task of forming a cogent picture from a very large (or very small) amount of diverse data. When a force engages in battle and the urgency for good intelligence increases, so does the fog of war and chaos of the battlefield, while military units become preoccupied with fighting or are lost (either destroyed by enemy fire or literally lose their way), reconnaissance and liaison elements become unavailable, and sometimes while real fog and smoke obscure vision.

I was taken with how closely the description matched similar problems I have experienced while in prayer. At times it feels like the more earnest I am in prayer, the more the enemy tries to distract me.
I am sure you are like me. I may be praying for patience, or healing or selflessness and all I can think of is what all I have to get done today, doubt that He will make me (or others) well, or how much I want those shoes that are on sale. (Yes, I am a guy who has a closet full of shoes, but they are all brown or black, so don’t think I am light in the loafers.)

What I have discovered to counteract the enemy’s attempts to disorient me is to utter the powerful name of Jesus. I simply order in His name for enemy to leave me alone. “Get thee behind me Satan” I also pull out my illustrated, laminated bookmark that Susie gave me of Ephesians 6:10-18 and pray the armor of God, especially the sword of the spirit and the shield of faith. Poof, my focus is restored and the fog lifts. Satan is now lost in the fog and cannot find me. It is like when God provided the sand storm to protect the Hebrews as they fled Egypt. He turns the fog from a barrier to God to a barrier from Satan.

The next time I get caught in the Fog of prayer I will think back to this morning as I watched the mist rise on the lake. Instead of getting lost in the fog, I will use it in Jesus’ name to hide Satan from me.

A Robservation
01-13-09