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by Mervyn Morelock, Lt. Colonel –
It’s springtime for The Salvation Army! Following the commissioning of the Prayer Warriors session of cadets, The Salvation Army in the U.S. Western Territory will gain 27 new lieutenants who will march to their first appointments as Salvation Army officers. It’s an exciting time for the territory, for like the new growth of spring, these men and women bring a new enthusiasm and a fresh commitment to God.
After two years of intense training and field experience, they are ready to take their place alongside the more experienced officers who labor faithfully in the vineyard of service. A new appointment is always an exciting time, no matter how long the officer has served. It is a time of leaving familiarity and the place you’ve called home, to a new and often unknown place of ministry and service.
Every officer feels their session name is special, and no matter how old one gets the session name remains so. For the Prayer Warriors, their name does not reflect status quo or “business as usual,” but is a daily reminder of the need to develop a prayer life that equips for aggressive Christianity and wars against the forces of sin and despair. We are an Army that fights, not with guns and bombs, but with that most powerful weapon of God…prayer!
These new officers will face a society unlike any that have gone before. It is more secular, selfish and materialistic. There is a fascination with information-age technology, and a depersonalization of human contact brought on by cell phones, Facebook and countless other influences. Many people are also experiencing economic hardship, losing homes, jobs and hope.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we must pray that our Prayer Warriors experience the power of prayer as they offer their new life of service to God.
We must be like Paul, who writes in Colossians 1: “Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven’t stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you’ll live well for the master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us (Col 1:9-12, The Message).
Pray for the Prayer Warriors—that they will know Christ and the power of his resurrection in their life and their work in every coming day!