Is my Prayer Helping
Anyone?
Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know
that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will
turn out for my deliverance.
Philippians 1:19
Philip Yancey in his book Prayer: Does It Make a Difference? tells
of a young American soldier in Iraq who learns that his wife back home has
advanced cervical cancer. Doctors gave a bleak prognosis. In desperation, he
sent an urgent email to his church with the request that everyone in turn
forward his prayer request to every praying person they knew.
The email said, “Pray and forward. It only
takes a second to hit “forward.” Please don’t delete this, your prayer can and
perhaps will save her life. Please pray and ask everyone you know to pray for
the HEALING of Cindy, removal of the cancer in her body so she may enjoy all
that life has to offer, and continue to be the wonderful mother to our 5 year
old son.”
Yancey goes on to ask, “Does prayer
operate like a pyramid scheme – the more people who pray, the more likely the
answer? Does a sick woman who happens to have praying friends stand a better
chance for recovery than an equally deserving person who does not?”
This verse reminds us that there is power
in corporate prayer. There is a special dynamic that comes into play when God’s
children come together, united in faith and purpose, to seek the face of the
Lord in prayer.
There is only one real problem in the
Church these days, and that is the prayer life of the Church. We could
enumerate many other problems that God’s people face. The problem of finance,
or the problem created by the lack of love and unity that can prevail. But
these are all secondary and almost superficial; they only touch the
circumference of the situation. The real problem is the prayer life of the Church,
and if that is solved every other problem at once finds solution.
Paul was having a tough time. But he says
he is confident of having victory over it. The reason being the prayers of the
faithful in the Philippian Church.
One of the most difficult things for us to
grab a hold of in intercessory prayer is the fact that it doesn’t appear to be
doing anything. If you bake a cake and take it to the neighbors, you are doing
something. If you stand at the church door and pass out bulletins you are doing
something. The hardest thing to get past when trying to understand intercessory
prayer is that it somehow seems we aren’t doing anything. Most of us want to do
something for God.
Most of us do not look at ourselves as
"world-changers." We do not see ourselves as having the power or
influence to change the direction of nations. As Christians, however, we affirm
the power of God to impact the nations. That power is released through the
prayers of people just like you and me.
Can we make a commitment today to change our
world? It begins with a simple yet difficult step in prayer. Begin to pray more for the people around
you, as well as for world leaders and the flow of world events. Bring the
amazing power of God to bear upon this world and see what our awesome God will
do!
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