What effect does prayer have? How does prayer resurrect the dead? How does it treat illness? How does prayer ease the anxiety or depression of those who are suffering? Why do Christians offer prayers of protection over their children as they send them off to school or for their future spouses? How can prayer help during a crisis like a pandemic or impact those who don't know Jesus?
One key passage of scripture contains the solution. There are numerous instances in the Bible where Jesus and his fellow disciples engaged in prayer battles, as recorded in Matthew 18:18–20, which illustrate the effectiveness of prayer. At Elijah's request, God closed the heavens and stopped rain for three years. For Moses to lead His people through, He split the Red Sea. In addition to casting out demons and healing the sick and the blind, Jesus also raised the dead, including Lazarus, on several occasions.
Do we fully comprehend the influence we can exercise when we use prayer as our authority? If we did, we would pray more frequently in the name of Jesus. Because we would be prostrate before God and engaged in a battle with the forces of darkness and evil in our world, there would be no such things as doubt, fear, or anxiety.
What Is the Power of Prayer and How Do I Use It?
The person praying does not possess the power of prayer. It is not a secret recipe. Not keywords, exactly. It is an open heart that is humble and overflowing with awe for the power of our great God. Instead, the God who is being prayed to possesses the power.
We too must understand that the only way to achieve our God-ordained destinies is to prioritize developing a life in God's presence above all else. Without spending time with Him, we can accomplish nothing on our own and move nowhere in our callings. Spending time there allows us to release the keys to our callings. To find the true source of life, we must always turn to Him in a hidden place.
This is the assurance we have in approaching God, according to 1 John 5:14–15: "If we ask anything in accordance with his will, he hears us. And if we are confident that he hears us, then we know that we have received everything from him.
Jesus actually chastises those who repeatedly pray, pray in front of people to attract attention, or have a bad heart, saying, "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words." Don't act like them because your Father already knows what you need (Matthew 6:7-8).
They cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their plight, as Psalm 107:28–30 reminds us. He silenced the sea waves and reduced the storm to a whisper. They were relieved when it calmed down, and he led them to the place they had been seeking. The power of prayer is real!
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