The Power of Prayer

When people want powerful things to happen, they turn to powerful people. When Christians want powerful things to happen, we can turn to the Holy Spirit.

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'When powerful people want powerful things to happen, they turn to powerful people.' It's a common thing in our world at all levels. On the lower end (as one example), if I want to change my rostered shifts at work, I need to ask my boss and then he can do it on my behalf. On the higher end, our world has turned toward national and international leaders to guide them through this pandemic.

This certainly has its place, but the problem with that as a long-term solution is that humans are sinful and imperfect, subject to mistakes and shortcomings. If we rely on them (or even ourselves) to make changes, whether in our own lives or in our world, we will more often than not find ourselves disappointed, because humanity alone is incapable of changing itself. However! There is an amazing promise of hope.

'When Christians want something powerful to happen, we can turn to the Holy Spirit.' God lives inside of His people, helping us to become more like Him through a process called sanctification. He helps us to resist temptation, listen to His voice, and obey Him - as long as we keep turning to Him and asking Him to help us do it.

This promise doesn't even stop at sanctification - it also extends to prayer! Two stories come to mind: firstly, the story of Jehoshaphat, one the kings of Israel (Judah, more precisely). I'll let you read his story for yourself in 2 Chronicles 20:1-24 (also 20:35-37), but basically Jehoshaphat was faced with an impossible situation, turned to God in prayer, and God helped him come out of that situation victorious! Later, though, he made an alliance with another king, relying on people instead of God, and he was brought to ruin.

The second story comes from Matthew 17:20, 21:21, and Luke 17:6. In each of these illustrations, Jesus teaches about the power of faith - the kind of power that can make mountains, "Move from here to there," be thrown, "into the sea," or can make a massive tree, "Be uprooted and planted into the sea." Our God is a God of the impossible - all He wants is for us to ask Him to be with us, to work on our behalf, and then to, "have faith and do not doubt," and He will do it. When we turn to the Holy Spirit, powerful things happen. Lives are changed; people are forgiven, restored, delivered and redeemed; miracles and healings take place; situations are transformed; kingdoms rise and fall; even the very fabric of reality bends itself to accommodate the will of Him who loves His children and wants to do good things on our behalf.

I'd encourage you to spend some time with God today, as I've been learning to do. As you turn to the Holy Spirit, let Him grow your faith, and open your eyes to see the amazing things that He will do in you, through you, and for you when you continue to seek His face.