Prayer Walking on Norfolk Naval Station

This afternoon Yvonne and I went to Norfolk Naval Station, and walked up and down the pier in front of the aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, and submarines, praying for the crews on board the ships. We prayed that God would keep them safe and help them to do their jobs well.

But more importantly we prayed that God would open their minds and their hearts to spiritual things. We prayed that the young men and women stationed on those ships would receive a hunger for God, and His Word. The bottom line for us, is that they would come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

While we prayed and walked, I thought about the passage of Scripture in 1 Corinthians that say the enemy of their souls has blinded the minds of those who do not believe. And in Isaiah it says there are those who sit in dungeons, their throats parched with thirst. They search for water, the prophet says, but there is none.

We walked by pier after pier, with young men and women standing as sentries at the gates. We prayed for each one as we walked by them, asking God to open their eyes that they might see Him! That He would connect us with some of them so we might share God's love with them.

The thought was overwhelming of there being four to six thousand men and women on the carriers. And while there are only a few hundred sailors on the destroyers and cruisers, there were many of them in port! Young men and women being tempted by the world, the flesh, and the devil.

But I was encouraged by the thought of what Jesus said in the Gospels. He told Peter that He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. In other words, while the devil may have taken them captive to do his will, the iron bars and gates of bronze that he has them surrounded with, will not stand. Because greater is His that is in us (Jesus Christ) than he that is in the world (the devil). God has given us a love for these young men and women that just will not end.

In Isaiah God said that the captives will be set free, and those who are in dungeons will not die there. Please pray with us...