Down at the river, wildlife is abundant. There are deer, foxes, raccoons, squirrels, and once a neighbor even captured a black bear on his wildlife camera. The birds are fascinating. There are egrets, blue herons, osprey, kingfishers, eagles, ducks, geese, cormorants and that’s not even including cardinals, bluejays, Carolina finches etc.

We love watching the wildlife. The birds are especially fun. On a hot July Saturday afternoon, the Father gave me a lesson in prayer. An Osprey was the teacher.

We had shared a lovely meal with friends and were having a great conversation when suddenly there was a loud commotion. Several small gray birds were chasing an Osprey. They were loud and threatening. The poor Osprey was just trying to escape. He landed on a branch not five feet from our porch. Above him, several of the small gray birds were screaming quite agitated. Others continued to fly around the tree, almost like kamikaze pilots.

After several minutes the Osprey had enough. He took off and glided to a tree closer to the water. The birds ceased their screaming.

I marveled at how those very small gray birds were able to intimidate that great predator. He was many times larger than they were. But their persistence and their numbers were too much for the lone Osprey.

Several days later the scripture, “How could one chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had given them up?” Deuteronomy 32:30 NASB And this, “One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you.” Joshua 23:10 NASB And from Hebrews, “ And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight…” Hebrews 11:32-34 NASB

Maybe we are like the little gray birds? There are giant circumstances that come to “rob our nest” as the Osprey had probably tried to do that Saturday. But as the children of God, we can fight together. We are like those small gray birds. Our prayers are much more powerful together than separately. We can defeat a giant predator. Our prayers are powerful. When we join together in prayer, that prayer power is magnified.

That Saturday, I realized, as the family of God, we are more powerful standing together. Maybe evil is more fearful of Christians praying and believing together than we will ever know this side of Eternity.

Just something to ponder…