The Power of Prayer

Men ought always to pray, and not to faint. Luke 18:1

Lord teach us to pray. Luke 11:1 

Being on the prayer chain I have said to dozens of people in the church, “We are praying for you or your child or husband.” I’ve also had dozens of people thank me with a quiver in their voices for the prayers. Someone said to me the other day, “It was the prayers of this congregation that helped my baby get well.”

There are many different kinds of prayers...prayers of petition, prayers of thanks, prayers of confession, and prayers of praise. We need to include all kinds of prayer in our conversations with God.

A woman whose son was having brain surgery said that the boy had the best brain surgeon in the country. “But,” she said, “unless we have the prayers of those who care, we don’t feel like we have the whole team in the game. God needs us to be members of his team and we can only do that through communication with him every day."

Living a life without prayer is like building a house without nails. Prayer is releasing the energies of God. For prayer is asking God to do what we cannot do ourselves.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for listening to our foolish requests and for answering them. We thank you for being available to us every day. What a gift you have given us to be able to talk to you. May we remember to praise you, to confess our sins and to ask for your forgiveness. May we remember that prayer shouldn’t always be about asking for something. Amen.

Gerry Draney (in memory of Gerry...reprinted from the Eastridge Daily Devotion book, 2008)