POWER to PRAY

James 5:15-16

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 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.

Deuteronomy 9:25-27
25 I lay prostrate before the LORD those forty days and forty nights because the LORD had said He would destroy you. 26 I prayed to the LORD and said, "O Sovereign LORD, do not destroy Your people, Your own inheritance that You redeemed by Your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin.

1 Thessalonians 1:8-12

8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power 10 on the day He comes to be glorified in His holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. [emphasis added]

This morning I awoke to check the time on my alarm clock and found no big red numbers that are usually right there on my nightstand. I realized that the electric must be out and scurried downstairs to check the pendulum clock to see what time it really was. It was still dark but I was already an hour late getting up. It was now 6AM. I found some candles and began lighting a few to place on the dining room table. I had planned to leave early this morning to head to my sister church. I realized that if the electric did not go on within the next hour and a half - that I would not be going anywhere - nor doing anything that I had planned. It was cold since the outdoor temperature had dropped dramatically during the night - and there was no heat since the gas heat was run with an electric pilot control gadget. I could not use the water - no shower - no flushing toilets, no microwave - no hot tea - no toast - even if I could have gotten dressed and been presentable, I could not gotten the car out of my garage because it has an electric door opener.

There is a sense of helplessness where there is no electric. How long could this last? An hour - 4 hours - 10 hours - a day - 3 days - a week? What if?? You can see where my mind was headed.

What to do? As I was preparing to begin reading my Bible - I felt a strong pull of the Holy Spirit to PRAY instead. I got my prayer list and flipped to the page where I had left off. Nothing else seemed to matter at that moment. God simply said, "PRAY."

After an hour of praying I heard something. I have a keen sense of hearing and smell. I heard a humming noise. It was the refrigerator. I praised God and realized that without even knowing it - the POWER was now restored!

The LORD showed me that when we feel disconnected to life - to circumstances - to things that are out of our control - it is time to PRAY! Without prayer there is nothing else we can do. It is our lifeline to GOD - our power source to connect with His Holy Spirit. I can do nothing on my own. I need that power. Just like with the electric lines - there was nothing I could do without it.

2 Chronicles 7:14-15

... if my people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. [emphasis added]

Ponder the call to PRAY. Some of the verses above are hard to swallow - but they are God's Holy Word. They are not there to scare us - but to warn us - guide us - and to lead us into His paths of righteousness.

My house could not stand nor function without its power source of electric. Your life - nor mine - cannot be sustained nor function without its power source: PRAYER.

Choosing JOY,

Stephanie

[Led Home by the Shepherd]