The Power of Prayer

Is their power in prayer to change what happens? When Abraham prayed, did he change God’s mind in what He was going to do with Sodom and Gomorrah?

God is not our servant. He is not bound to do what we pray. But if we pray in accordance with what God desires then it will occur. One of the characteristics of the Church in the Book of Acts is their commitment to prayer. When the church heard of the trials or persecution of a brother, they prayed. Are we praying now for our brethren who are under persecution around the world?

Where do we put our hope? Is it in government or God? Do we spend all our time petitioning for laws to be changed, or are we on our faces before God petitioning Him? Throughout the history of Christianity, whenever we see powerful moves of God, we find people in fervent prayer. Since we wrestle not against flesh and blood, why do we spend so much time in fleshly warfare? Shouldn’t we be getting into the spiritual battle?<--break-->

And what is the focus of our prayers? Are we busy, vainly repeating selfish prayers that we would be better? Or are we focused on our brothers, praying for them. Paul frequently would petition that people would pray not for his release, but that he would have the boldness to preach the Gospel in his affliction. We are taught to pray for God’s will to be done. This doesn’t mean a meek, submissive, defeated prayer that His will would be done. We should, in boldness, pray for God’s Kingdom to come to earth.

The level of our prayer shows the level of our concern. If we are not praying for something, then we don’t care about it. So how much time are you praying for the salvation of your friends, family and neighbours? How much time are you praying for the persecuted church? How much time are you praying for God’s will to come? And how much time are you spending praying for yourself? Are we fulfilling the greatest commandments in our prayers, or are we breaking the commandments by focusing only upon ourselves?

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