The Power of Prayer – By Brian Sharpe

I remember a while back when I was studying the book of James being amazed and shocked at one verse in particular. It was James 5:17; “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.” What this says is that, Elijah was a man (or human being) like you and I and he was able to pray and God listened to him. God made it so the earth did not get rain for three years because of Elijah’s prayer. This is power. God has given us this power. He gave us prayer as a way to communicate with him.

I sometimes forget the power that God has given us through prayer. I was convicted of this very recently. I was seeing that I was not seeking God on behalf of my students as much as I should have been. I was not seeking Gods power in my family’s life. I am a fix-it. When something goes wrong I try my best to fix it. But issues of the heart I cannot fix. God is the only one who can change the heart. James 5:16 says this, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

Our prayers are powerful and effective. I know this but, I am not sure I always believe it. I say that I believe in prayer, but then I do not live that way. I need to be seeking God in prayer so the power of God may be released in the life of my family, my students, and my church. I sometimes wonder “God what are you doing here?” But again I am not praying to ask God to work. God has told us to ask him for help. James 4:2-3 says, “2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

Are we seeking God for things? Are we asking Him? Are we asking for things that are for His glory? I know for me sometimes I do not ask because I am afraid to ask. However, God has told us the reason we do not have because we do not ask. It is OK to ask and seek the power of God to work in our lives. He will work according to His purposes and His pleasure. He will be consistent. We just need to be willing to seek and ask. This is an act of surrender, of humility. I never thought of prayer as an act of surrender but it is. We do not ask help from other people for a few reasons; we do not want to put people out, or we are just too full of our own pride to ask. It is the same with God. We want to figure it out on our own, and not surrender and say, “God I need your help here.” “I need your power.”