I look in disbelief. No word seems adequate to express a heart and soul mourning our brothers and sisters toll in Japan. My family, we clasp our hands to pray and intercede.
It's an odd concept to know that we are to pray, He directs us to.
But I feel so inadequate at the same time through those prayers. I realize the immensity of the travesty and my own fragility & humanity. But yet He tells us to..pray. He tells ME to pray...I realize it's Him.
It's Him through my prayers... through our prayers!
The prayer that is able to accomplish much
Prayer is a powerful tool in the hands of a Christian because as James writes
“the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
The idea is that when prayer is working, or doing its thing, it can accomplish much. This is because God has chosen to accomplish His will through our prayers. This truth can be mind boggling, but I think that we can grasp it by looking at another means that God uses to accomplish His will.
Romans 10:14-15
How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written:
How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written:
"HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!
Who is it that saves a person? It is God of course. But here we see how God does it. God uses Christians who proclaim the good news about Jesus to call non-Christians to belief. It is not the Christian who saved the non-Christian, it is God. In the same way God gives us the privilege of working for His will through our prayers.
God uses our prayers to accomplish His will.
This is why our prayers are so powerful,
because
they have the power of God to accomplish His will behind them.
I find myself grappling with the age old questions:
Why is there suffering; why doesn't God always heal people when they ask?
There is this verse in Matthew 18 where Jesus is delighted to heal people who come to him. But he says, if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.
Now right there, it shows that Jesus has a different priority, and that is our spiritual healing.
His real interest was in healing the soul.
He answers our prayers for our eternal best.
Other times it means using what Satan meant to destroy us to, instead, cause us to grow stronger
We have to remember that we live in a sinful world in which an enemy seeks to destroy us. He'll do that through whatever means he can. Illness, cancer, pain, discouragement, doubt, busyness.
Yet God promises to work all things to good for His children. Like Joseph, we can say, "You meant this for evil, but God used it for good" Genesis 50:20
I think of a great spokesperson of God's true healing Joni Eareckson Tada. "If I had been granted a miraculous physical healing back when I was 17, I know I wouldn't be in a ministry serving other people with disabilities around the world."
My prayer is for our Eternal Best Father!
#49 Power of prayer
I just came over from Ann’s.
ReplyDeleteAnd I heart this, “Other times it means using what Satan meant to destroy us to, instead, cause us to grow stronger.” He is doing so for me – has been for more than a decade – I hate the illness – I love him. It’s just a thorn – we all have our thorns.
And a list of one – and such a good one – needed no others – prayer is awesome.
God Bless and keep you and all of yours.
Great words...thanks for posting!
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