THE POWER OF PRAYER

A simple definition of prayer is communication with God our Father Almighty. There are several reasons why Christians engage in prayer. One major and most important reason is giving due recognition to God as the Ultimate Authority in every situation.

Because God is the Creator and Owner of everything, we must accord Him reverence and worship. Prayer is one way we do this. We confirm to Him that we depend totally on Him for our sustenance and rightly so.

Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us the value of continuous prayer to God without getting discouraged in His parable of the widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8) stating clearly that God our Righteous Judge will act in our favour and quickly too.

Dear friend, God in His infinite mercy has made it known to us in His Word, the Holy Bible that we can only come to Him through His Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. As it says in 1 Timothy 2:5, "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus."

This is so because God sent Jesus Christ our Saviour to die for our sins on the Cross of Calvary to reconcile us to God from the sin of disobedience of our first parents Adam and Eve (Colossians 1:19-20).

God has given Jesus Christ all authority in heaven and on earth and a name that is above all names (Phillipians 2:10-11). Therefore the only prayer that God responds to and answers is one made in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is equally important to note that for our prayers to be answered, we must be in right standing with God by obeying His commands. The bible tells us in Proverbs 28:9, "One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination."

How do we know if we are living in obedience to God's commands? It is by reading and meditating on His Word in the Holy Bible (Joshua 1:8) and doing exactly what it commands. We also know by fellowship with other Christians and listening to the teaching of God's Word by men of God.

God's Word says in 2 Chronicles 20:20b, "Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper."

At this point, dear reader, I will warn you that satan or the devil is now using many people to deceive innocent and unsuspecting children of God even in places of worship. So the prophets or men of God to believe are those who teachings are in accordance with the Word of God or the Holy Bible.

I tell you this because the Word of God clearly says in Titus 1:10-11, "For there are many, especially converts from Judaism, who rebel and deceive others with their nonsense. It is necessary to stop their talk, because they are upsetting whole families by teaching what they should not, and all for the shameful purpose of making money."

It is also written in 2 Peter 2:1-3, "False prophets appeared in the past among the people, and in the same way false teachers will appear among you. They will bring in destructive, untrue doctrines, and will deny the Master (Jesus Christ) who redeemed them, and so they will bring upon themselves sudden destruction.

Even so, many will follow their immoral ways; and because of what they do, others will speak evil of the Way of Truth. In their greed these false teachers will make a profit out of telling you made-up stories. For a long time now their Judge has been ready, and their Destroyer has been wide awake!"

Also, for prayer to be answered, one must have faith. The Word of God says in James 1:6-8, "But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown about by the wind.

A person like that, unable to make up his mind and undecided in all he does, must not think that he will receive anything from the Lord."

Our Lord Jesus Christ says in Mark 11:24, "For this reason I tell you: When you pray and ask for something, believe that you have received it, and you will be given whatever you ask for."

The Word of God reminds us of the importance of continuous prayer in 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18, "Pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus."

Dear friend, a major reason why we must pray without ceasing as God's Word has commanded is because satan or the devil is always looking for ways to make Christians or children of God fall into sin and be separated from God.

One way satan does this is by trying to weaken a Christian's prayer life. This is done when demons ascend from hell into the sky and cast spells on the earth at night when people are fast asleep. These spells cause spiritual weakness, sicknesses and demonic influences to cause confusion in individuals and families to create disharmony and quarrels.

The Lord Jesus Christ says as long as Christians are awake praying at night, the angels of God are able to move and prevent the demons from casting these spells to weaken Christians, but when Christians do not pray, the angels are able to do very little to prevent this.

So you can see that prayer is a very powerful weapon against demonic influences in the spiritual and even physical realms. This is why it is said that a prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian and a prayerful Christian is a powerful Christian.

Prayer is the master key a Christian uses to unlock any difficult situation and destroy the influences of satan and his demons. Since you now know this, dear reader, it is therefore important and necessary for you to pray always, especially at midnight when other people are fast asleep at night.

The Word of God says in James 5:16, "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man avails much."

It is equally important to note that prayer must always be made to God with the right intentions because God judges our intentions or motives and will never answer a prayer made with the wrong intention or motive.

As God's Word says in James 4:2b-3, "You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it. And when you ask, you do not receive it because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your pleasure."

A good formula for prayer would be to start with songs of praise, worship and thanksgiving to God for His greatness and all He has done for us and the whole world. Then prayer is made asking for God's forgiveness of our sins and the sins of the whole world.

Thereafter we can ask for whatever we want by faith in the name of Jesus Christ and God will answer the prayer (John 14:13-14). There is absolutely nothing that can stop such prayer from being answered.

Dear friend, now that you have known the value and power of prayer to God in the name of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, it is in our interest to pray always, with faith, with the right motives and even for others (1 Timothy 2:1) who are yet to know the value and power of prayer.

You would do well to also share this valuable information with others so the devices of satan are known and Christians the world over know how to pray effectively.

God bless you exceedingly as you heed His Word, act on it and share with others in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Gabriel Ama