One of the Most Unused Sources of Power

Frequently, someone will write or say "I pray for you and your family." My response is one of profuse gratitude because I know from family history and my personal experience, the power of letting God know your needs and waiting and watching for Him to intervene.  

The Exquisite Privilege of Prayer

                God commands His children in Philippians 4:6 to pray about everything. Countless times, we read in the Bible of God intervening on behalf of those who honor His name. Sometimes we need a reminder that He acts in wondrous ways to heal, comfort, and encourage His children.

                My grandmother, Gladys Vivian Rainey Smith, had been “converted” in a life-altering way in 1931, following her father’s death. (To read more of this account, see the blog post entitled The Bittersweet Shared Birthday posted on August 10, 2014.) Her concern for her husband to be right with God, through Jesus, became her aim. The small congregation of the country church joined with her to fast and pray. Soon Grandpa, Calvin Callcayah Smith, made a commitment that changed his habits, behaviors, and his life. (My account of Grandpa’s surrender to Jesus is chronicled in the blog entitled The Legacy posted on March 9, 2014.)

                Grandma  also told of the illness of her dear friend, Ruth Woods. Ruth lived in the Big Bend, with her husband, Perry and their children. Perry and Grandpa shared a love of baseball as well as their Cherokee heritage. Ruth became ill suddenly with rheumatic fever, with her joints painfully swollen so that Grandma, who had trained as a nurse, had to cut her clothes from her  extremely enlarged joints. Ruth had contacted a couple of preachers from the Church of God to come to the Big Bend to pray for her. My grandma had returned to the Woods home to deliver laundry she had done for her friend, Ruth. She arrived at the time these men arrived. Following the prayer of these ministers, Ruth arose from her bed, completely healed, giving glory to God for her recovery. Grandma was on her way to attend to a gravely ill baby of near neighbors living in a tent with only a dirt floor. When she observed Ruth's healing, she requested the praying men accompany her. They prayed for the sick baby and its fever broke. In the midst of the Great Depression, God provided healing for a mother and wife and for a tiny baby right in the Bend.

Ray T. Hart with his wife, Ruby, and their daughters,
Becky and Ila Rae. Bro. Ray, as he was known,
was a man of great faith and commitment to the
 mission of helping people understand how God wanted
to enrich their lives. Through a daily interaction with
Jesus,  His presence would permeate each decision and every facet
 of their lives. He planted the Baptist church in the
                            Big Bend, as well as the one in the Masham area.                      

                I recall hearing of an all-night prayer meeting at the old Victor School located at the intersection of State Highway 18 and Masham Road. This was at the beginning of the Masham Baptist Church. Pastor Ray T. Hart was preparing to lead a revival. In those days, revival preparation mainly involved prayer and telling friends and neighbors to come. The all-night prayer meeting was exactly what the name depicts. It was a group of committed Christians meeting together for one night, all through the night, to pray, not eat or fellowship, but pray. A woman living near the Victor Schoolhouse had a sick child. During the night, she got up to check on that child in the wee hours of the morning and happened to look out the window. How astonished she was to see the lights still glowing from the old schoolhouse. As she went back to bed, she commented to her husband, “They are still praying.” Many people, including this couple, committed their lives to the Lord and became faithful workers in the Masham Baptist Church.

My father’s hospice chaplain recently told of an incident in his early days as a modern-day circuit riding Methodist minister in Missouri. He was preaching in four churches each week. He preached in the first church early on Sunday morning, drove to the second church and preached later in the morning. Then he preached on Sunday evening at the third congregation. Finally, he preached in the last church on Wednesday evening.
           One week he found himself low on gasoline for his car as well as money. He preached his message at the first two churches, but didn’t have enough gas to drive the 7 miles to the third church that Sunday evening. He told his wife they would pray and trust the Lord to provide for them to get to the church that night. A five-gallon can of gas with a twenty-dollar bill wrapped around the can’s nozzle appeared in his driveway. The Lord provided enough gas to get to the church that Sunday evening and money to buy gas to get to the fourth church on Wednesday night.
            Later our chaplain would learn the Lord impressed a neighbor to give the gas and cash to him that very day. What a tangible example that the Lord hears our prayers, cares immensely about us, and will meet our needs! We must trust and not worry, but wait to see God’s provision for us. May we have sensitivity to His voice leading us to act in His name and promptness to obey whatever He commands, wherever His hand directs, and whenever He moves on our hearts.

Almost everyday this week, I have had friends share spectacular ways God has been faithful in their lives, the lives of their loved ones, and their work because of answered prayers – prayers they could never contrive the answers to by themselves. God is still faithful if He is called upon, allowed to work in our lives, and abundantly meet our needs..

II Chronicles 7:14 expresses such power from prayer. No policy, whether economic or trade or any other type, provides the answer for the United States. Only true believers humbling themselves  before God, seeking His face, and praying provides hope for our country.
            The sad truth is not that prayer no longer works. The reality is that prayer is no longer genuinely attempted and done. This week, when a need arises, talk to the Lord first and watch Him work on your behalf.

II Chronicles 7:14 – 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 I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.