THE POWER OF PRAYER FOR EXPLOITS

WHAT IS THE BIBLICAL MEANING ABOUT THE POWER OF PRAYER?

Prayer is the most powerful weapon God has given us, to plug into power, perception and purposes that can only be found in God’s presence;  Prayer is power and strength, the power and strength that influences God and is most salutary, widespread, and marvelous in its gracious benefits to man. Prayer influences God and the ability of God to do for man his heart desire is the measure of the possibility of prayer. The book of Psalms and various sayings of Jesus and other individuals outline these elements to Godly prayer:

ELEMENTS OF PRAYER

1.     Praise: The Bible shouts the command to respond to greatness and goodness of God with the expression of praise. The Psalms in particular command praise as it is the important element of prayer as we focus our attention on God and tell God how awed we are at His majesty and glory. One common way to praise God is to burst forth in music and song see (1 Chr. 29:20) Then David said to all the assembly.  “Now bless the Lord your God.” So all the assemble blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and prostrated themselves before the Lord and the king.” See also (2 Chr. 7:6) “And the priests attended to their services; the Levites also with instruments of the music of the Lord which King David had made to praise the Lord saying. “For His mercy endures forever,” whenever David offered praise by their ministry. The priests sounded trumpet opposite them, while all Israel stood.” Praise also occurs by what we say and how we live. The entire creation (including nature and the angels in heaven) praises God. All creatures join in praising God as we acknowledge His greatness, His Holiness and His wonderful acts and saving love on our behalf. There are so many reasons to give Him praise. Ultimately, it comes down to this: He is worthy; He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and Prince of peace. See (Ps. 65:13) “The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valley also are covered with grain; they shout for joy, they also sing.” And (Exod. 15:11) “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?”

2.     Thanksgiving: Thanks giving to God is closely allied with praise to God. The Old Testament ceremonial laws included a special thanks offering to the Lord. Many Psalms include spontaneous outburst of thanksgiving; it is an important element in Christian prayer as well. (1 Chr. 16:7) “On that day David first delivered this song into the hand of Asaph and his brethren to thank the Lord.” Paul always begins his letters with a thanksgiving to God. In a sense, the entire Christian life is a sacrifice of thanksgiving in gratitude to God for His mercy and daily provision and protection. We give thanks to God for His goodness and love, His perfectly righteous and just character, the new life He has given to us, His deeply personal care in our lives, His provision of strength and necessities  for each day, and His guidance in helping us live in the most fulfilling way possible- the way of following Jesus Christ. In sum, we ought to be thankful to God in all circumstances. (1 Chr. 16:34-35) “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. And say, “Save us O God of our salvation; Gather us together and deliver us from the Gentiles, to give thanks to Your holy name, to triumph in Your praise.”

3.     Confession of sin: In both the Old Testament and the New Testament God calls us to be painfully honest about our sin and guilt. Such confession could be made by an individual, by the whole community or by someone interceding on behalf of the people. And through such confession God’s people receives His mercy, for He forgives their sins and makes them clean (Ps. 32:5) “I acknowledge my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.” In our relationship with other people, we need to be courageous enough to confess our sins to each other, and thereby experiencing forgiveness (Jas. 5:16) says, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

4.     Intercession: Intercession is prayer offered by one person on behalf of another. The offering of such prayers was one of the tasks of Old Testament priests, though prophets and even kings could also intercede (1 Sam. 7:5) And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” And when Israel sinned against God by asking for a King, they asked Prophet Samuel to pray for them (1 Sam. 12:19) And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord Your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves.” The New Testament goes even farther in suggesting that all Christians have a responsibility to offer prayer of intercession. Church leaders such as Paul and elders were especially challenged to pray for others. Christ is the great intercessor (Isa. 53:12) “Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” While on earth He prayed for both friends and enemies, and He is now in the presence of the Father, bringing our hurts and sorrows and weaknesses to the Father (John 14:6) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The Spirit intercedes for us as well, especially in our times of weaknesses.

5.     Petition: (Matt. 7:7) say, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.” One important ingredient in prayer is petition that is, asking God to meet our needs such as food and drink for each day, daily cleansing from the sins that we struggle against, strength to overcome the temptations of the day safety in travel and deliverance from difficult circumstances. The psalms are filled with many pleas to God to meet personal needs. David set up a special division of Levites to make petitions to the Lord. God wants us to ask for things from Him in prayer. We must always ask in faith, trusting that He will hear and respond, and accompany our request with thanksgiving to Him. And we must also ask in Christ’s name, for He is our way to the Father (John. 14:6).

We must pray in humility, in honesty, in faith, in confidence, in Jesus’ name and accordance with God’s will. God wants us to be persistent in prayer, but He also wants us to accompany prayer with action.

PRAYER THAT WORKS EXPLOITS

When Abraham learned that God was about to destroy the city of Sodom, he became immediately concerned for the welfare of his nephew Lot (Gen. 18: 23-25) “Lord, “he prayed, “ would You destroy the righteous with the wicked?” God replied that if ten righteous people could be found, the city would be spared.”  When a search was made it was discovered that Lot was the only righteous person in the entire city. Although the city was destroyed, Lot and his family were removed before it became a flaming inferno. This is a testimony to the importance of intercessory prayer. Many have been healed of an incurable disease as a result of prayer. Others have been saved from some tragic accident or making a serious mistake in life. There are many people for whom we need to pray for as much can be accomplished through the prayer of a righteous person(James 5:16) “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

Nehemiah’s ministry on behalf of the Jews was a combination of prayer and work. The reader cannot fail to notice the frequent “arrow prayer” that dot the book- spontaneous prayer that expressed Nehemiah’s inner feelings before God. But prayer to him had to be accompanied by action. Rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem required a plan of action approved by the king. When opposition threatened, posting a guard was as importance as prayer. Prayer and work still belong inseparably together (Neh. 4:9) “Nevertheless we made our prayer to God, and because of them, we set a watch against them day and night.”

Jabez prayer that made an exploit of his life; (1 Chr. 4:9-10) “Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.”

Elijah the Tishbite was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruits (James 5:17-18). And in the previous verses James had asked, “Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. For the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

Jeremiah also prayed and the Lord answered him; (Jer. 32:17-18 ) “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and out stretched arm.  There is nothing too hard for You. You show loving-kindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them- the Great, the Mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts. You are great in council and mighty in work, for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons ‘of men. To give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings.” And in (33:3) he says, “Call to Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.”

The list goes on and on and before I find myself publishing another Bible, let me pen off here. And it is my prayer that the Good God may give us grace to pray and do exploits as prayer is the key to all that we need and require from our loving Father.

“Grace to you and Favor from our God and Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen and Amen and Amen.”