COVER FIRE

Following a recent meeting of the Brotherhood of Catholic Men, I was sharing with my brother-in-law how impressed I was with the prayer practices at a recent Men’s Cursillo weekend. Not only did we pray as a team over each speaker prior to and after their talk, but during their talk one of us was assigned to sit before the Blessed Sacrament and pray for that man while he was presenting. I likened it to the concept of cover fire. Let’s face it, when we are trying to live the Gospel or share the Gospel with others, we are in a battle; a spiritual battle with an enemy who outguns us when we are on our own. That led to the question of why don’t we do this regularly? Why don’t we do this with any potentially impactful event that we participate in?

We have multiple groups at my Church sending out texts or emails with prayer requests for the sick or dying. They’re great. We’ve seen God answer those prayers in sometimes miraculous ways. We know prayer is powerful, especially when a community comes together to pray for something. That led to the next question, “who should we call on for these prayers?” Yes, our brothers in Christ, but more importantly and primarily it should be our families. For fathers, it should be our wives and children. 

How often are we faced with an important meeting at work, a difficult work situation, or perhaps an opportunity each month? How often do we turn to our wives and children in those situations and ask them to pray for us? What would that look like if we did? Would we not be setting a great example for our kids about how to approach the challenges they face? Would we not be sharing with and investing our family in the outcomes of some of the highs and lows of our work week? (Which many wives complain we never talk about.) We don’t have to tell them all the details. It’s enough to say, “pray for me today please; because at 3pm I have a meeting that could impact my department in the future;” or “pray for me today, I will be interviewing candidates for a new job, and I want to make the best choice.”

These types of prayer requests should invite follow-up questions that draw them closer to you. “How did the meeting go?” They would provide opportunities to express gratitude for their prayers. They would also provide teaching moments. For example, suppose, you say, “thanks for praying for me today, the meeting went great” and they say, I’m sorry, I forgot. You can respond with, “no problem let’s pray together now and ask God to apply it to that meeting for us.” It’s an opportunity to emphasize that God is timeless. Suppose the meeting does not seem to go well. You can reassure them that because they prayed, you can accept the outcome with greater peace of mind. 

Some may be worried that asking for prayers from their wife, kids or others in these everyday situations will make them seem weak. On the contrary, it takes courage to recognize that we need prayer in our lives. It will be setting a heroic example for the wife and child(ren) on how to prepare for each day. 

Some may feel that their relationship with God is strong enough that they don’t need extra prayers. Let us remind ourselves that Adam had an even better relationship with God. But he was no match for the wiliness of the serpent. That is why we need others praying for us, even when we aren’t expecting much of a challenge. With that in mind, should we be asking our wives and children what they would like us to pray for? Certainly! However, we need to first set an example by asking them to pray for us. Later we can ask them that question.

We don’t need to limit it to our family. If there is a close friend, or men’s group, invite his (their) prayers too. You can never have too much backup. 



So don’t wait, check your calendar, find the next battle and ask for “cover fire”, the fire of the Holy Spirit to guide you safely through.