Barbara Brinkworth
“Well, I guess all we can do is pray.”
Often, this statement is heard when people are at the end of their rope. They have done all they can do to fix a problem. They have knocked on every door of opportunity available to them. They have acted out every possible solution to a problem.
Isn’t it strange they did not get to the point of prayer sooner? If they really believed that there was a God in heaven who answers prayer, prayer would have been the first step in changing a situation or solving a problem. Well, there is a God in Heaven that answers prayer!
All through the Bible, God gives evidence of direct answers to prayer. In many of these situations, prayer was not only “all” that could be done; it was what should have been done first. Prayer was always the solution to the problem at hand. It was enough. Some biblical examples are:
- In I Samuel 1:10-13, Hannah prayed that God would open her womb, that she might have a child to dedicate to Him. She had been barren for some time, and all she could do was pray. Prayer was more than enough to meet her need. Not only did God give her a son, Samuel, whom she dedicated to the Lord; He also gave her three more sons and two daughters (I Sam 2:21).
- Elijah told Ahab (I Kings 17:1) that there would be no rain or even dew for three-and-a-half years. Eventually, there was no more food. A widow and her son thought they would die because of the famine (I Kings 17:12). God supernaturally fed them, as well as Elijah, for the remainder of the three-and-a-half years. At the end of that time, Elijah had proven to the Baal worshippers who was the true and living God, and it was now time for the drought to end. Elijah, himself, could not make it rain. All he could do was pray and ask God for the rain. In I Kings 18:42, he did just that. In verse 45, the rain not only came, but it was a “…great rain…” more than enough to end the drought.
- King Hezekiah was sick unto death, as told in II Kings 20:1. He went to the Lord, and begged for more time after Isaiah told him that he would die. In verse 6, the prophet Isaiah returned to the king, and told him that God had heard and answered his prayer. He would be given fifteen more years of life.
- In Acts 7, we learn of Stephen, one of the first deacons. Because of his stand for the Messiah, he was stoned by the Jews. Before he died, he asked God to “… lay not this sin to their charge …” (Acts 9:3-6). God answered that prayer by allowing Saul of Tarsus (Paul), one of the men at the stoning, to be saved and go on to write many books of the New Testament.
- Jesus prayed many times during His earthly ministry. While on the cross, he prayed “… Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do …” (Luke 23:34). God answered that prayer by allowing many Jews to be saved after the resurrection. Although the Romans actually crucified Jesus, it was the Jews who demanded that he be killed (Luke 23:21). That did not keep God from saving them, however, when they called on His Son in faith for salvation.
There are many more biblical stories that could be told of the power of prayer. Suffice to say that the next time someone says to you, ”Well, I guess all you can do now is pray”; I hope you will say to them with confidence, “Great, because I know that is enough.”
No prayer, no power! Little prayer, little power! Big prayer, big power!
Sis Brinkworth,
So good to see you writing! Thank you for this.
At Church last night an elder preacher and former pastor of our church was talking along these lines and was said “God’s blesser is bigger than our blesser” “His budget is bigger than our budget”.
We have not because we ask not.
My wife recently dug up a passage from CH Spurgeon that spoke to the power of prayer and the necessity of making a practice of it. I share it below.
“No doubt by praying we learn to pray, and the more we pray the oftener we can pray, and the better we can pray. He who prays in fits and starts is never likely to attain to that effectual, fervent prayer which availeth much.
Great power in prayer is within our reach, but we must go to work to obtain it. Let us never imagine that Abraham could have interceded so successfully for Sodom if he had not been all his lifetime in the practice of communion with God. Jacob’s all-night at Peniel was not the first occasion upon which he had met his God. We may even look upon our Lord’s most choice and wonderful prayer with his disciples before His Passion as the flower and fruit of His many nights of devotion, and of His often rising up a great while before day to pray.
If a man dreams that he can become mighty in prayer just as he pleases, he labors under a great mistake. The prayer of Elias which shut up heaven and afterwards opened its floodgates, was one of long series of mighty prevailings with God. Oh, that Christian men would remember this! Perseverance in prayer is necessary to prevalence in prayer.
Those great intercessors, who are not so often mentioned as they ought to be in connection with confessors and martyrs, were nevertheless the grandest benefactors of the Church; but it was only by abiding at the mercy-seat that they attained to be such channels of mercy to men.
We must pray to pray, and continue in prayer that our prayers may continue.”
–C. H. Spurgeon