Prayer - Our Spiritual Weapon

Prayer is to the Christian what air is to our bodies.  Without air, our bodies can’t survive.  Air is vital for life and the same goes for prayer to the Christian life.  If we aren’t in touch with the Lord through prayer, our soul suffers and withers. We may be walking around, but it is like our soul is dying.

We can see the result of not having air physically. The results are very evident. However, our eyes can’t see the results as readily when we go without prayer.  Eventually, others will see something is wrong but we may not know what is going on ourselves.

Lately, I’ve been learning again how prayer makes a difference, both in my own life and even on the other side of the world. God is waiting for us to pray and He wants to bless us through his answer. Ezekial 22:30, “ I sought for a man among them who would stand in the gap before me.........but I found none.” When we intercede and pray, God works in people’s hearts.  He wants us to intercede and pray for others and for our land. So we must be faithful.

What happens when we pray goes beyond what we can see into the unseen.  When Elisha’s servant was worried, he prayed and the Lord opened his eyes to see all the angels there. Stories like this still happen today.

I have heard of a missionary in the Philippines who moved into a dangerous tribe to bring the gospel to the people there.  The missionary was warned of the danger, but he trusted the Lord.  After being there for a while and getting to know some of the people, they told him how on the first night when he was there, they had come to kill him, but couldn’t because there were 24 big men with swords standing around the house.  When the missionary was talking to people at home, he found out that evening there had been 24 people at the prayer meeting in his church.

Another example I know of that comes to mind is that of an evangelist in Latin America who was working in a town where the border of two countries met.  At first, as the evangelist handed out tracts and talked to people he was met with hostility. The people threw the tracts away and wouldn’t talk.  So he walked across the street to the other country and there found a totally different response. The people accepted the tracts and talked openly.  Later the evangelist found out that in the second country people had been praying the gospel would find fertile ground.

Prayer is important to the wellbeing and future of our community and our country. I get so excited about prayer when I hear stories like these.  If we as a church want to make an impact in the world we must pray together.  Do we want a church like in Acts 2 where people gather to pray, leading to amazing results? 

When we pray for someone’s salvation, the Holy Spirit is at work, even if we can’t see it.  We are told to pray with thanksgiving, believing that our prayers will be answered. Each of us has people in our families and in our circle of friends who don't know the Lord or are struggling.  As we pray, God is at work. The Lord is waiting for us to intercede on their behalf.

Prayer is work and takes time. We live in such an instant gratification society that we think we need to see results right away.  But even if we don’t, we must not give up but instead keep praying and believing that our God will answer.

I pray that we always come to a deeper realization of how important prayer is and also come to believe the Lord will do great things if we speak with Him.