Recently, while praying for protection for my family, I felt a gentle rebuke from the Holy Spirit. He pointed out to me that I was praying out of fear.
Now, when we are afraid, we SHOULD pray. It's a key step in moving through fear. But the key phrase is "moving through" fear, not residing there. The Bible tells us to not be afraid, stand strong, and so on, hundreds of times, over and over and over again.
His rebuke was pointing out where my "feet" were standing while I was praying: not in boldness or victory, but in fear. I needed to keep "walking" and move to a place where I could stand firm and fearless.
Later, when I prayed for Ukraine, the Holy Spirit gently pointed out that I was praying from a position of confusion not wisdom. The next morning, the Holy Spirit pointed out that I was again praying from a place of reaction not victory. He told me to move my "feet."
So, I stopped my prayer mid-stream, declared victory-related scriptures He brought to mind and felt my Spirit-man move to a calm, confident, soldier-like stance. Then I returned to my prayer, finishing it in the attitude of a Victor and from my rightful place as an Overcomer.
He did this again as I began to declare Psalm 91 over my family, as I do most every morning. He prodded me to move my feet to a place of confidence in his protection. Declaring Psalm 91 after that took on a whole new "preach," if you know what I mean!
Clearly, He's directing me to take note of where my feet are as I pray, then to consciously MOVE them to my rightful place as a beloved daughter of the King of the Kings.
After all, we know the truth is that we are not just walking this earth and then moving to Heaven. While we're here, we're also seated in heavenly places. When we pray, we pray from a position of authority because of where our feet are—no longer in the Kingdom of Darkness but in Christ's Kingdom:
"...and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." - Ephesians 2:6-8
This is yet another step on the path to learning to pray effectively:
Learning to hear what God wants us to ask Him
Learning to declare with confidence what He says to declare
Learning to move our "feet" to where we stand firm in Heavenly places as a co-inheritor of "his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
Sharing this for those who, like me, need to pay more attention to our feet.
Grace directs our feet.