August 8, 2023, 516 days ago… I finally caught on to committing my mind to forever reflecting on the not-so-secret way of revealing a not-so-secret weapon. I had heard it for a while, almost a year, and even years into the past with “Battle Belongs” (Phil Wickham), but that night, it finally clicked.

I was writing a reflection about my time in the summer season, and as I started, I had this song on my mind. Here’s what I wrote (with some brackets and ellipses to make slight edits to fit in into a 2025 style):

There’s a song by Evan Craft, which has been out for almost a year now, called “Fight On My Knees.” But there’s a Spanish version to the song, yes, because Evan Craft himself was able to learn Spanish. This Spanish version is called “Peleas Por Mí.” With my [basic knowledge of translating words in another language], I’ve been able to sense that the words “Peleas Por Mí” are in no way the same words as “Fight On My Knees.” So what do they mean? …

“You fight for me.” Obviously, the “You” is addressing God, the Creator. That’s good. If God is fighting for me, and I am fighting on my knees, I’ll be completely ready for whatever is coming OUR way. It’s not just me. It’s a journey with God. Think about those stories that seemed like such a great adventure. … It’s a bunch of people in the presence of supernatural things, but I’m doing just as well as them. Maybe fighting on my knees is not a secret, but I do have the secret. … I’ve finally been able to fully realize that I have it.

Well, although the word “secret” does get mentioned in this song, I’m not here to tell secrets. This is not a secret diary or a secret journal, nor is it a secret message. But my understanding of “secret” was very interesting, in that it was me being able to take a concept from a song and push it into a bigger picture. I thought about us having a relationship with God being so powerful… Think about it, though. It is powerful. It might not seem powerful, but once you realize it… you’re just like the most powerful characters in a fictional story who are supercharged with superpowers, paranormal, and supernatural assistance. You will be able to have all the tools you could possibly need, and if you don’t yet, God will provide them. It’s just that our fight is a bit different. We’re not here to fight each other as heroes and villains. We’re not looking for human enemies. It’s a battle between love and separation from love. It’s a battle between goodness and loss of goodness. It’s a battle between light and darkness. Jesus died and rose, which defeated the darkness from claiming us for eternity. But we still have the choice… to be rescued by the light or to push ourselves down into the darkness. Are we going to say yes or no to Jesus? (Thank you Kim-Walker Smith, “I Say Yes.”) Jesus’ Name might be five letters, but I don’t think it sounds anything like “maybe.”

It’s a bit ironic because I remember when the song “Fight On My Knees” came out in 2022, I was recovering from a knee injury. The injury reinforced this belief that I’m just a guy who lives in much dependence. I’m not always physically strong enough to take the challenge. And as far as fighting on my knees went, well, I had to keep it easy with doing it sitting down.

If you haven’t caught on to the four word phrase yet, the fighting on the knees is a fancy way of saying to pray, to pray to the Lord through whatever it takes, through whatever difficulties you are facing… as if that is the best way to solve the problem. Well, we believe that it is. I’ve heard that prayer shouldn’t be our last resort but it should be our go-to option, no matter what, in every situation.

In prayer, basically, we’re talking to God the All-Powerful. So whatever it is in our small, tiny lives, we believe that He cares about it. And we’re trusting that He will send us the better solution. He will choose what is best for us. In my eyes, that doesn’t mean it’s the most sweet or pleasing option. But it is the bound-for-healing type of option, meant for greatness, sticking us toward where we want to be on the difficult path of a life journeying toward God’s promised land.

The concept lies again in Matthew West’s “Don’t Stop Praying.” He encourages us to pray on our knees so much that we’ll have to visit the Home Depot to buy new floorboards. Yes, he does (sort of). Look at those lyrics again if you don’t believe me.

I’m not a master prayer. I’m not at the point where I spend hours each day reciting prayers, chants, and meditations. I’m not at the point where I can pray nonstop without getting distracted with much smaller, worldly things. I’m just here at the start to pray that I can put more effort into my prayers.

I would encourage all of us today, to take a minute, on our knees if possible, to pray. I’ll do it now, and then I’ll be one prayer stronger when it comes to the next Vital Reflection.

One day, if Evan Craft, Phil Wickham, Kim Walker-Smith, and Matthew West find out about our battle warm-up, hopefully they’ll be happy that their songs inspired us to spend an extra minute of our lives praying.