By Jacqui - One of God’s Intercessors
I cringe when I hear someone say prayer doesn’t help. I shake my head in wonderment when someone says stop praying and do something; and then, I remember the story of the man who understood the power of prayer. He woke up one morning and said, “I have so much to do today. I will spend the first three hours in prayer.”
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Phil 4:6
I think it’s a matter of pride. For some people, if they cannot see how something can happen, then they believe it can’t. If they cannot fix it themselves, then how can prayer make it any better. In both cases, pride in our own abilities prevents us from admitting that there are things we cannot fix; things we quite simply cannot make better. And friend, if you’re thinking that God is our equal, then you would be right. If we can’t do it; he can’t either.
But we are not equal to God. God is Almighty. He is omniscient. He is omnipotent. To save you time in the dictionary, I will make it simple. God understands everything and God has unlimited power. I often remind myself that I have only finite understanding and God has infinite wisdom. What a difference!
I share all this today as a reminder that we serve a God who hears our prayers and answers them! I know he may not answer the way you thought he would. He often doesn’t answer the way I thought he would either. But that’s because we have such limited understanding in how he might answer. Because God is omniscient (he understands everything), he sees a much bigger picture than we ever could. Because he is omnipotent (he has unlimited power), he can do immeasurably more than we ever thought or even imagined!
So, before you think that prayer won’t help, remember who you’re praying to. Prayer connects us to God and there’s nothing he can’t do. There are things he chooses not to do, and we may never understand why. After all, we’re not omniscient. Thank God he is!
Before you’re tempted to think you can do a lot more than pray; take a moment to remember who is responding to that prayer. It’s God. Then, do what you can do to help. Just remember to set your pride aside and acknowledge that what you did may have been God using you as the answer to someone else’s prayer!
Not believe in the power of prayer? Not me. There is so much I cannot do. But I love a God who can do anything. So, if you need me, I’ll be praying.