Do You Know How to Wield the Power of Prayer?

Do You Know How to Wield the Power of Prayer?

 

Good Morning Friends,

 

As I am writing and patching together these daily devotional I pray and often the prayer creates an atmosphere of revelation for me whether or not it is conveyed to others. It is a great joy for me to begin each day with this sense of God’s presence and love. Of course, anytime is a good time to praise the Lord in prayer but I have found it particularly beneficial to do so before the birds sing and the traffic starts. And this morning as I pray in front of my computer screen’s light, and as I write I wonder if we might redeem the power of prayer. Do You Know How to Wield the Power of Prayer?

 

Scripture: It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.

 

Psalm 92:1-2 (NRSV)

 

 

Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

 

Psalm 150:1-6 (NRSV)

 

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,

 

Genesis: 1:1 (NRSV)

 

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.

 

Lamentations 3:25 (NRSV)

 

 

Message: Many people believe that one of the most powerful actions in the universe is prayer. And though there is a duty and delight in prayer and praise that can be the foundation of our Christian culture, I believe it is underutilized. For example, I wonder how many of you reading this have taken the time to give thanks today. It is a good and powerful way to begin the day. It has been said that the power of prayer does not flow from us; it is not special words we say or the special way we say them or even how often we say them, and all that is true but still there is a power in which we share in and through daily prayer. For in prayer and praise we connect to God in His role as creator and ruler. Here in His image through prayer we become a breather of possibilities and the setter of limits. It is a discipline like music that requires daily practice. It is hard to imagine a time in history without prayer but the Bible makes no mention of it until Genesis 4:26 when men began to call on the name of the Lord. Today people around the world are praying in all sorts of ways and some prayers will be answered in the affirmative and some with no response and only waiting. I wonder about our willingness to exercise the full power of prayer. Think with me for a moment for prayer makes certain assumption about the world in which we live. First and foremost it assumes that there is a God and that God listens and is concerned about our needs and emotions. Prayer presupposes that we can love and be loved by others and by our very creator. Prayer assumes that the world we live in needs to change in some way and that we are not in complete unity or awareness of how to effect that change. The beauty is that prayer makes possible our sharing of these needs so we might do things together to effect the needed change. Prayer brings revelation of the possibilities of what we can do as a next step even though the final outcome has not been exposed. Prayer prepares us for what possibilities might come. And prayer makes it a lot more difficult to sin and to hate and makes it a lot easier to love. In this way praying together changes us from the inside out creating a culture of love and thanksgiving and praise of the very God that is the initial assumption of the activity in the first place. Friends, all this makes us feel and think more positive and that is the power of contemplating a little more of heaven on earth. If you take nothing else away this morning, know that our prayer life must by its very nature result in our lives demonstrating God in power and love. If that is not happening then it is not prayer at all.

 

Pray we believe that prayer is a way to happiness and joy. Pray that our acts of prayer keep our heart free from hate and our mind from worry. Pray we realize that whatever we place this day in the hands of the Lord will result in something good. Pray the obstacles before us break when we stand up to them. Pray we have a mental picture of ourselves succeeding. Pray we cultivate a habit that becomes a culture of prayer that empowers more of heaven to be lived out on earth. Pray we realize that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Pray God equips and empowers us to be the very answers to our prayers. Pray our prayers prompt us to action in ways that glorify God. Pray this glory begets glory as we experience God in our actions and even in those things we have yet to see.

 

 

Blessings,

 

John Lawson