Power in Prayer

Today in Sunday School, one of the college guys, Josh Allbright, preached a message about the Power in Prayer. It is without a doubt, the most powerful tool to a Christian aside from the Bible. What is really sad is that mant of us don't use prayer the way it was intended by God. Prayer is our instant hotline to God's ear. Psalm 116:1-2 says "I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclinced his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." God's ears are always open. Talking to Him should be like talking to your best friend in heaven and earth, but guess what... This friend is almighty, all-powerful, and all-knowing. God knows when you're having trouble. He knows what tomorrow will bring. Talking to the Lord is such a powerful tool because you are in communication with the One that knows what your needs are. Even if you can't verbalize your needs, God knows what they are.

Another way we abuse prayer is by asking for things according to our own will. We are not the almighty God. We cannot tell the future, and we can't always fix problems on our own. We may think we're fixing all of our own problems, but God can fix them so much easier than we can. He has the power. I, personally, like to fix things. I like to make sure all of my family and friends are happy, and if they're not, I try to do everything in my power to make them happy. However, the first thing I should do in these situations is pray. I tend to leave prayer as my last resort, and I'm working on that.

Later this evening, when I was at the evening service for church, one of our assistant pastors, Ricky Brown, preached a message about prayer as well. I can see that God knew I needed both of these messages quite clearly now. He talked about wanting more. However, this wanting more wasn't selfish, like you'd think, but wanting to DO more with the blessings God has given you. He used the example of Solomon, when he asked for wisdom. I'm paraphrasing here, but God basically told Solomon, whatever you pray for, I will give it to you. Solomon then answered that he wanted and understanding heart so that he would be able to tell the difference between good and bad and be a good judge as king. God rewarded Solomon with even more than he asked for, with riches and honor, that he would be the best of the kings in his day. God did this because Solomon wasn't being selfish. He wanted to be able to serve God with an understanding heart, and be able to help the people decide what was fair. The next few verses in 1 Kings 3 are the story of the two women with the babies, one of which died. If you don't know the story, both of the women claimed that the living child was theirs, and then Solomon decided that in order to do the most fair thing, they had to cut the baby in half and give half to each woman. However, one of the women said, no, give the other woman the child. Solomon knew that only the child's true mother would give up her son to someone else to be sure that he would live. In the end, Solomon gave that woman the child because he knew that she was the real mother. Solomon used his gift of wisdom in order to serve others, rightfully giving the child to his real mother.

Today has been one full of challenges about prayer. I'm challenging myself to be more careful in my prayer life. I haven't been very good about communicating with God daily and talking to Him about my problems, leaving them with Him. I want to challenge you to go to God with your problems. He's there, waiting for you to call on Him with your every need, and He will work according to His will. If you've had any experience as a Christian, you know that God's will is much better than any plan we could ever come up with. The verse I want to leave you with is this one about prayer: "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3 (KJV)