Last night a friend called and asked me to pray for a friend of hers who was in the hospital—in a very serious crisis situation. We prayed together over the phone. We prayed blessing, healing, peace, and comfort. We prayed Scripture. We both prayed, and as we prayed... I began to laugh. Nothing was “funny” so I tuned in to observe the laugher that was flowing from me. I recognized the Holy Spirit was resting on us and understood that somehow this laughter was prayer.
It flowed, bubbling from me like a wellspring. I was reminded that the joy of the LORD is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). The more I laughed, the more aware I was of God’s joy and strength. I sensed the laughter was releasing His strength and was pouring it into the woman’s body that we were praying for.
My friend, on the other end of the phone, was quiet as I laughed. I thought, “I hope she feels God’s presence on this… I wish she would join with me and laugh too… I hope I’m not making her uncomfortable... Maybe I should stop… We’ve probably prayed “enough”…” A part of me felt awkward. But, in my spirit I didn’t feel a release to stop. I felt like God was not done. There was more to “pray.”
God reminded me of 2 Kings 13:18-19 when Elisha told the king of Israel to strike the ground with arrows—representing defeating the enemy army. The king struck the ground 3 times and stopped. Elisha became angry and reprimanded the king for being half-hearted. He said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times [then you would have completely defeated your enemy].”
Because God brought this Scripture to mind during our prayer, I committed my laughter to the LORD like I was striking the ground with those arrows. I struck and struck and struck and struck, and struck again! I laughed hard. I laughed loud. I laughed like I’d want someone to fight against the enemy and contend for my healing if I was lying, critical, in a hospital bed. I laughed until I felt a release in my spirit.
I’m not always sure what effective prayer looks like, but I am asking Him to make me (us) aware and tune our senses so that we don’t miss these little things that could have really big consequences. (I’m sure if the king of Israel knew that striking the ground a few more times with those arrows would have completely defeated the enemy army, he would have done it).
LORD, please help us to live courageously; to follow Your Spirit so that we don’t miss “little” opportunities because we want to look good/appropriate and not embarrass ourselves, or someone around us.
Let us be effective prayers!
~ I am happy to say that through God’s mercy and power the woman my friend and I were praying for had a shift in her critical condition and was released from the hospital.
Go God and let Your enemies be scattered!!!