God’s Grace and the Power of Offensive Prayer

What is offensive prayer?

Accent the first syllable, please.

OFF-ensive. Like in football. Taking offensive action is to act in a positive direction toward your goal.

I coined the phrase, I think, for myself a long time ago while in college.

God showed his grace toward me by acting in a positive manner that I couldn’t manage myself–sort of like a football team moving the ball down the field toward a goal.

My goal was muddy. I confessed that to God. He moved the ball.

Here’s the story, followed by how I’ve adapted offensive prayer ever since to a variety of circumstances.

Headstrong or just infatuated?

My freshman year in college I became madly infatuated with an inappropriate young man.

I spent a lot of time with him, even while I knew such behavior was wrong for a variety of reasons.

But it was so much fun. We had such a good time together, even if we only saw each other three days a week.

Music was involved, travel, fun.

But I was playing with fire and I knew it.

One day I sat down in my dorm room to pray, as usual.

On that particular day, however, my prayers seemed to hit the ceiling and bounce back at me.

There was no sense of connecting to God. It felt like a one-way communication and one of us, the more significant one, wasn’t listening.

Indeed, it felt like God was ignoring me.

In a previous post, I talked about my ease in praying with God, the casual intimacy that was similar to Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.

Nothing like that was happening on this particular day, sitting at my desk with my Bible open.

“So, what’s the deal, Lord?”

I didn’t have to wait long before the guilty understanding grew that while I thought I was having fun with the Mad Infatuation, and I was, someone who loved me was unhappy.

I knew better.

I knew He knew that I knew better.

I stared at the wall and thought that one through. If God knew that I knew that God knew I knew, was there any point in pretending otherwise?

I was quite familiar with 1 Chronicles 28: 9b:

“The Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.”

A sobering passage.

Was the Mad Infatuation worth it?

There was only one way to find out. I needed to acknowledge what both God and I knew to be going on. Why pretend He didn’t know when I knew He did?

I tried to explain:

“Here’s the deal, Lord. I know this isn’t right, that it contradicts what I’ve been taught and believe, but I’m just having so much fun.

If you’ll give me a few weeks, I know it will run it’s course and then I’ll be fine. I promise.

I just can’t help myself.”

The mood lightened some and while the confession wasn’t quite complete, it did open the discussion some.

Or so I thought.

The next day when I saw the Mad Infatuation, he walked right past me.

I called after him.

He ignored me.

Indeed, he went from being warm and friendly one day to cold and distant the next day.

I couldn’t believe it.

What happened?

Can you guess what I did?

I pretty much made a fool of myself.

For a few weeks.

I realized, however, what had happened pretty early on. I had told God I couldn’t control myself, I needed help.

He took me up on the request.

While He wasn’t going to shame me into obedience, there were two people involved.

God worked on the other person’s heart and I was safe.

It didn’t take me long to recognize the grace of that prayer.

The Lord cared enough for me, that He intervened to protect me from myself–just as I had asked.

Offensive Prayer

In the years since, I’ve taken that concept of offensive prayer and applied it to similar circumstances in the lives of people I care about.

Maybe this person couldn’t control themselves in a relationship that defied Scripture. Maybe that person wouldn’t listen to loved ones when they confronted with the truth.

We try.

But sometimes, a choice is too well dug-in to respond to reason.

So, we turn to offensive prayer.

“Lord, you know the state of this person’s heart and what they’re doing. I’m going to ask that you be at work in the heart of the other person involved. Make that heart grow cold. Reveal truth. Make yourself a force that can’t be held at bay. Work in the hearts of both to your glory.”

Offensive prayer for me all those years ago was full of grace.

It’s really intended as the prayer God will always answer: “thy will be done.”

Even when some of us are resisting bending our knee.

All those years ago, I felt chagrinned and embarrassed, but in the end, I knew the truth.

I am now, and I was then, thankful.

Tweetables

What is offensive prayer? Click to Tweet

If God can’t work in your heart, why not the other party’s? Click to Tweet

How grace and offensive prayer go together. Click to Tweet