Three years ago, on a sweltering morning in Florida, I was enjoying my daily prayer walk. For seven years, I delighted in this time with Jesus as we walked for an hour, interacting, savoring the beauty of each new day.

That morning, I was preparing to fly to Colorado to begin The Heart of Discipling Women project. My heart was full of anticipation. I was excited to meet the precious women I’d be sharing the journey with as we piloted using this material to help them go deeper in their walks with Jesus and equip them to help others do so too.

As I walked, I saw a man approach with a pit bull on a retractable leash. I didn’t think much of it—until the dog lunged and bit my thigh. It happened so fast. The dog chomped through my Bermuda shorts, leaving small puncture wounds in my skin. It didn’t look serious at first. But the pain sent me into shock. 

By the time I stumbled through my front door, the wound was discolored. Purple blotches surfaced, then angry red streaks spread. I flew to Colorado as planned—but by the time I arrived, a deep purple bruise the size of a salad plate adorned the side of my leg.

Three days later, when yellow spots began to appear, I thought, I better get this checked. I didn’t want to risk infection.

When the doctor heard the bite came from a pit bull, he said, “That’s a warning bite. If that dog wanted to, he could’ve shredded your leg.” I was relieved it wasn’t worse. But wondered, why did the Lord let a dog bite me while I was walking and praying? Why didn’t He protect me?

In the days that followed, more changed than the appearance of my thigh.

After I returned home, I stopped walking the full hour route. I didn’t feel safe near the dog park. So I shortened my walk—from my front door to the edge of the neighborhood and back. Twenty minutes, tops.

And what was sad—as I prayed less, I hurt more.

In this new project, I was creating tools to help God’s children rob the enemy’s kingdom. It was like storming a castle after cutting back your armor by two-thirds. The enemy was more aware of my vulnerability than I was—and he took full advantage of my lowered defenses.

I didn’t realize how much ground I surrendered until three years later, when God began to gently draw me back. I felt the nudge:

Return to the dog park. Come walk there with Me again.

So I did. I resumed walking the full loop. When dogs ran toward me, I froze, calling out to owners, “Please, I was bitten—can you keep your dog back?”

Some did, others didn’t.

But I kept walking. I kept praying. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I met with a woman whose heart was breaking for her children who are living far from God. As we talked, something stirred in me. I ran to my office and grabbed an article by Jerry Bridges entitled Engaging the Unseen Foe.

We read it together, underlining what stood out. In it, Jerry explains that the military refers to three categories when engaging in warfare: logistical, tactical, and strategic. He shows how these categories apply to prayer:

• Logistical prayers focus on the details—someone’s illness, a job need, a travel plan.
• Tactical prayers address immediate battles—temptation, conflict, spiritual attack.
• Strategic prayer is mission focused—praying for God’s kingdom to come, His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Most Christians’ prayers are logistical. But in spiritual warfare praying strategically is vital because our enemy is cunning and calculating.

As we read the section describing the enemy, I recalled the doctor’s words: “That’s a warning bite.” And this time, I saw love.

That dog could’ve mangled my leg. But it didn’t. God was protecting me—not from the dog, but through the dog—providing a merciful warning. A wake-up call. Highlighting my vulnerability. Reminding me of the reality a spiritual battle rages and giving me a heads up it was about to intensify.

But instead of heeding the warning and praying more, I prayed less. As I sought to protect myself by avoiding the dog park, I became even more vulnerable. And the enemy took full advantage.

But now that I am back to walking and praying—and being intentional to pray strategically —it’s making a difference.

The bite was real and so was the fear that followed. I realized on a deeper level how vulnerable I am. In a moment, so much can change. And it wasn’t just the bite – In my shock and inexperience I didn’t realize I needed to get the owner’s contact information to find out whether the dog was up to date with his shots. I went for a year unsure whether rabies might follow. Thankfully that wasn’t part of the story. The bite never did get infected. It healed much quicker than my heart.

But the call to return was also real. And so is the power of strategic, kingdom-focused, battle-tested prayer.

God sometimes allows a warning bite—not to harm us, but to awaken us. To draw us deeper into the fight.

For me, it took sharing about spiritual warfare with another woman to get the message. The longer I disciple women, the more I realize discipleship is not only about pouring into others—it’s about being formed and fortified ourselves.

One other treasure the Lord gave: as we discussed that article, I realized The Lord’s Prayer covers all three categories:

Our Father in heaven, holy is your name. May your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven– that’s strategic! When we pray this, we focus on praying for the mission.

When we pray: Give us this day our daily bread – that’s logistics where we ask God to provide for our basic needs.

And the next part: Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors – that’s praying tactically for individual battles, because every time we need to forgive, a battle is being fought and whenever we don’t forgive, we are giving ground to the enemy.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil – that’s become a daily part of every prayer walk as I’m now aware more than ever of the battle raging and how dependent I am on the Lord for protection – even when that protection means I may need to get a little hurt to spare me from greater hurt in the long run.

I’ve also started praying through the armor of God each day, asking the Lord for grace to wear all of it well.

As I walk and pray, sometimes I’m still afraid. But now, I’m praying not just for comfort or safety—but for victory. For God’s Kingdom to keep advancing in my heart and in the hearts of those around me. For God’s will to be done.

The enemy is real. But so is our Defender. His power and love are infinitely greater.

And His goodness is evident, even in a warning bite.