Prayer Power

To pray means to “entreat; implore; to make a request in a humble manner; to address God with adoration, confession, supplication, or thanksgiving.”

When we pray, we admit that God is over us, that we are unable to do something on our own and that we need God’s help. We need His wisdom and power to help us with a problem or situation that we might have.

For example, if someone isn’t feeling well, or maybe was involved in a car accident, they can pray to the Lord for healing and comfort through their time of pain or suffering. Other family members or friends might also pray on their behalf to God for them as well. Or if someone is dealing with a fault in their life, they can ask others to pray for them to the Lord that they would overcome their sin.

James 5:16, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

When we pray to God, it shows Him that we are seeking His help for something, or are in need of His divine guidance. 

It takes humility to pray and ask for help. It takes a seeking heart to come forward and say, I need your help, Lord. He wants to help us, and all we need to do is come to Him and ask through prayer.

Jeremiah 29:12, “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.”

Jeremiah 33;3, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

We can pray just to thank the Lord for His grace toward us. When we wake up in the morning, we can thank Him for the beautiful day. We can thank Him for our clothes or before our meals. Remember when Jesus fed the 5,000, before they ate, our Lord blessed the meal. Luke 9:16

Sometimes we don’t now what we should prayer for, but we can know that the Holy Spirit will pray for us.

Romans 8:26, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

We never want to forget to put God first in our lives. We can pray to Him at any time of day, and about anything. Before any decision we should always remember to pray about it. We need His guidance in every part of our life.

Phillippians 4:6, “…but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

Colossians 4:2, “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16, “…Pray without ceasing.”

Romans 12:12, “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.”

When we pray to the Lord, we shouldn’t repeat our prayer over and over and over again, such as Catholics do, when they say their “Hail Mary’s” (which by the way is wrong. No where in the Bible does it teach to pray to Mary for anything. Our prayers are to Jesus and God the Father only.) Imagine someone asking you for a ride, asking you for a ride, asking you for a ride. Isn’t that just ridiculous? The Lord will hear our prayer the first time; saying it over and over again is pointless.

Matthew 6:7, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathens do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.”

And when we pray, we need to do it not to be seen by others. Some people pray in front of others just to be seen; they want others to praise them and say, You are such a good, holy person.  Our prayers to the Father should be done in secret. 

Matthew 6:6, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and they Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

If someone does something evil toward you, Jesus tells us that we should pray for them. Remember that we are all sinners, and we all need help. By doing good to others that hate you we can show them that the power of good is far greater than the power of evil. 

Luke 6:27-28, “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”

Sometimes in our live we will reach a point where we are tempted to do evil. And while the bible does say to count it joy when we are tempted (because it is then that our faith is tested and is made stronger), we should pray that we do not give in to those temptations, but instead defeat them. In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus tells us to pray “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” It takes the power of Christ to defeat sin. We might readily say that we want to overcome an issue, but without the Holy Spirit we are weak. Through Christ we are made strong.

Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Every morning and every night, remember what the Lord did for us, and thank Him. Pray to Him that He would help us with all our shortcomings and mistakes. And always pray for others, that they would see the light of Christ working in our life.

In Christ,

Andrew