When Lions Stand Up
If ever there was a time for Christians to stand up and pray it is today. It is all too easy to become lulled into passivity. Passivity is one of the greatest enemies in the Western church. Passivity and prayerlessness go hand in hand.
How do we become passive? There are many reasons: the good life, success and blessing, weariness, and so on. But a major way is disappointment.
Luke 22:45, 46: “At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. ‘Why are you sleeping?’ he asked. ‘Get up and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you.’”
The disciples fell asleep because they were exhausted from grief. A few hours before, Jesus had announced that he was going to die, they would see him for a short time, and then he would go back to the Father. Their expectations of a Messiah King to rule Israel were dashed and grief filled their souls. When we are disappointed because the Lord seems not to have answered our prayers, we can become passive. Author and pastor Francis Frangipane says, “Disappointment will dis-appoint us from God’s appointed plan for our lives and put us to sleep.”
In fact, just about every time we succumb to some temptation it can be traced back to a lack of prayer. Martin Luther the great Protestant reformer said, “If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith.”
Some time ago, while in prayer, I had a clear impression of Jesus, one of whose names is the Lion of Judah, standing at the right hand of the throne of God. I thought this was strange as Colossians 3:1 says he sits at the right hand of the Father. Then I remembered that when Stephen, the first martyr was being stoned to death he saw a vision of Jesus standing at the right had of the father (Acts 7:56).
So which is it? Is he sitting or standing? The truth is Jesus sits at the right hand of the father but when his people are under attack by Satan or when events occur on earth that provoke him, he stands. And when he stands he acts. Isaiah 33:3 says of Him, “The enemy runs at the sound of your voice. When you stand up, the nations flee!”
I once heard a motivational speaker tell the story of the lion and the antelope. The sleeping lion, awakened by the pangs of hunger, stirs itself and stands up. Catching the scent of an antelope herd, it begins to stalk the group, focusing on a straggler. It then pursues the hapless animal until it catches and kills it. The speaker asked the question when was it over for the antelope? The answer is the moment the lion stood up!
We are called to be lions. Proverbs 28:1 says, “The righteous are as bold as a lion.” It’s time to stand up in prayer and faith. To be victors not victims. Let go the grief of disappointment that brings passivity, and intercede for a world that needs heaven’s interventions. When lions stand up, everything changes. When lions stand up and pray, Christ also stands.
There are times in history when Satan the roaring lion threatens God’s people and the Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ stands up. At that point it’s over for the devil! What makes the Lord stand up? It is the prayers and faith of God’s people as they cry, ‘Let God arise and his enemies be scattered.’ (Psalm 68:1).
As Bible teacher Joyce Meyer says, “It’s time we got rid of our wishbone and got some backbone. Start to aggressively expect God to act and pray some BIG prayers.”