The Power of Prayer
Isis, beheadings, slaughter, school shootings…
How, O Lord,
can this be?
Where are you Father?
We need you like never before.
Never before? Remember:
The Boston Bombing
Ebola
9-11
AIDS
Edi Amin Dada
The Atomic Bomb
Nazi Germany
The Spanish Inquisition
The Crusades
Attila the Hun
The crucifixion of Christ
and the persecution of His followers
We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror. Jeremiah 8:15 (NIV)
Folks feared the world was ending with each one of these events that filled the world with terror. Yet time continued to unravel…
Stand in the gap
Around the world
For every believer
And every lost soul.
Do you feel it?
Do you feel a shift in the atmosphere?
A heightened need to pray?
Me, too.
The terrorists at the door
The nightmare
Edi Amin Dada
Zaire
Neighboring countries
Rampages
Mass murders
One of my dear friends grew up in Uganda during the time of Edi Amin Dada in the country next door. Guerilla warriors rampaged the country night after night, breaking into homes as they pulled fathers from mothers, sisters from brothers and infants from mother’s arms.
Millions were slaughtered. A few survived. And turned a country around. HOW?
They prayed – all night long – as they listened to doors being battered down, screams piercing the darkness, and footsteps receding into the night.
Yet they lived through the night – night after night, over and over again.
And changed a nation. Uganda is now a CHRISTIAN country. And Pastor Mike is now a missionary to AMERICA to help teach us how to pray like they did to turn our country back to God!
They prayed like David prayed in Psalm 3. Want to learn how to do that? I do! I pray America repents and turns back to God. Yet…
A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.
1 Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”
3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
4 I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
6 I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.
7 Arise, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
8 From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Psalm 3
The enemy wants to bring terror to this land. Yet what lands will the Word of God reach? And who deals with terror now? Did you know that the prayer thermometer in the US is at 25%…and FALLING?
Realize and utilize the POWER of Prayer. Open the windows of Heaven as we pray a powerful prayer – that goes under attack.
UNDER ATTACK? Why would I want that?
He has one job – to steal, kill and destroy. You. And everything you love.
Here’s the GOOD NEWS! Do you know you and Your Prayers are WINNING the battle?
Have you felt:
Doubtful?
Distracted?
Challenged?
Easily irritated?
Angered like a trigger finger-just itching for a fight?
Heads up! The enemy is working hard against you to rearrange your day and to distract you from drawing near to God. So pull in even closer…
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:7-8 (NIV)
So walk with power, purity and a sound mind to remain in the power of God’s covering. Spiritual warfare (did I really just use those words?!) is real and scary, BUT GOD…
Pray Ephesians 6:10-20 daily. And pray continually. Be ready with the gospel because it is your mightiest weapon. Hold your sword for THE MASTER to wield as you speak the truth of His Holy Word.
Paul and Silas turned to praying and singing in the most unlikely of places. Prison. At midnight. And everyone’s chains came loose!
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. Acts 16:25-26 (NIV)
That’s the power we have in us with God’s Word. Ready to use it? Your life depends on it. Eternally. And so many other’s lives too.
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17 (NIV)
Yes, the Kingdom of Heaven has come near. So repent AND rejoice! I’m finding calm in the chaos of life because The Power of Prayer is real.
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12 (NIV)
Yep, Jesus said you and I will do even greater things than He did!