Malala Yousafzai is 14 years old. At age 11 she stood up to the Taliban in her part of Pakistan. How? By going to school. The Taliban forbid girls to be educated. She has spoken out for girls to be educated, she has written about it, and she has gone to school. This week she was shot by Taliban terrorists after school.

It is the intimidation of the enemy. When one will stand up and say, “This is not right. I stand for what IS right,” the enemy will take the shot. Why? In hopes of making everyone else sit back down. If shooting Malala keeps other Pakistani girls from getting educated, the Taliban wins.

Christians have an enemy. And when sleepy American Christians wake up to prayer and the study of the Word, the enemy takes shots. He causes disruptions.

Why? Because if he can take a shot and we sit back down and go back to sleep, he wins. 

When you make an effort to simply do what is right in the Kingdom, the enemy will try to intimidate you back into silence. And let’s face it: in America, it is easy to sit back down and be quiet. We have so little at stake that we can see.

But there is MORE at stake. We just can’t see it yet.

We are being called to prayer. The enemy isn’t going to just let that happen. He will take shots. He does not play “fair.” Get used to it.

But we serve one who came to destroy the works of this enemy. Stand strong. You may take a shot or two… or three…

But it is time to stand strong. It is time for US to be angry. I am angry at cancer. I am angry at an enemy that is trying to pick off some of my friends with cancer. I can’t stay silent. I can’t stay asleep. There is too much at stake.

Do not be intimidated. Do not back down. This is our time to wake up in the Kingdom.