10 Minutes

A war cannot be won in 10 minutes, and yet, that is the amount of time I spend every day at lunch in prayer for this request. Up until today, I have been impressed with my 'sacrifice' of lunch time to bring a request to God on behalf of my students, God, however, not so much.
Those 10 minutes were minutes spent truly seeking out God and asking Him to be faithful to His promises. I don't believe the problem was with what I was praying, the problem was with the amount of time I was dedicating to this prayer.
I mentioned in an earlier post the story of the angel prevented from reaching Daniel with the answer to his request. Today God impressed upon me that those same angels are battling on behalf of my request and 10 minutes just isn't enough time for them to gain any real ground or victory. He impressed upon me how satisfied Satan must be with that minimal time; any enemy can endure for a short period of time. What Satan will have difficulty with is a sustained onslaught...a longer prayer time.
In asking God for guidance on how to have an effective, longer prayer He brought to my mind the account of Jesus' prayer in the Garden. Jesus spent quite some time in that prayer. How? First He laid out on the table all the feelings He had about His approaching crucifixion, then He asked God if there was another way and last He surrendered to whatever God's will was and for it to be done. He was passionate about those prayers and I'm sure He gave God opportunity to talk back to Him, that's how the prayer lasted longer. We know there was ample time in that prayer for God to work because Jesus went on to the cross and died there for the sins of mankind.
I'll still maintain my lunchtime prayer, it's a committment I've made; but it will no longer be the only time in my day with sustained praying time.