The Power of Prayer
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
I’m posting late today (my brain just kind of went “poof” and left for a little while), but I wanted to write on prayer.
Reading in the book of Ezra, we see the Hebrew exiles returning to Jerusalem – in the reign of Cyrus, they began rebuilding the temple. But it didn’t go well, and the work was dropped for twenty years.
Work restarted in Ezra 5…and there were prophets and preachers. But not even once in prayer mentioned in that chapter? Do we believe that this work of God was done without prayer?
There was a man far away – an old man; too old to take part in rebuilding. Daniel was still in Babylon. In the 3rd year of the reign of Cyrus, Daniel “was in mourning” for three weeks…and he received a heavenly visitor and a vision. A significant thing about this visitor is that he had been “detained” by the “Prince of Persia” – it seems that this prince was most likely one of the “principalities” of the spiritual realm that Paul would write about centuries later.
These events are only (factually) loosely connected, but they can teach us a great lesson.
– Prayer is a spiritual battle. When we pray and don’t feel as though was are receiving replies, think of Daniel’s visitor who had been held up in the spiritual realm. We can only know for sure what is happening in our temporal world and we know, that even if things are slow, the battle is already won.
– Prayer matters. Far, far away from Jerusalem, Daniel was praying for his people, and was receiving prophecy. Did the people (who were fighting battles of their own) know that Daniel was praying? No, most likely not. But did his prayer matter? Absolutely!
– Prayer is a gift of God. How many times have we heard, after a difficult time that we may not even have told anybody about, “Oh, I was praying for you this week!” That prayer, that we didn’t know about, was a gift of God, placed on somebody else’s heart.
– Prayer has a purpose. When God brings a person to our mind with an urge to pray, pray! We don’t know what is going on in that life – but God does. And tell that person the next time you talk to them – encourage them.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Ellen,
Prayer is a gift of God, it matters, and it has a purpose. You are right on. We absolutely don’t know what our words are dong in the spiritual realm but they are doing something for the will of God. Too often, we give up praying and that is precisely when we need to stay the course. This post is such a great encouragement to me. Wonderful!
What an awesome post Ellen……..I think especially in North America we really don’t understand the power of prayer and what can happen when we pray…..thanks for this post……I really needed the reminder
Blessings
I agree with you. Sometimes I don’t know why I start praying for a particular person, but God does. And that is all that matters…