Power of Prayer

You may have heard the apocryphal story about a small town where there were no liquor stores, until one day a nightclub was built right on the main street. The churches in the town were so upset that they held several prayer vigils. They prayed God would burn the sinful place down. Sure enough, a few days later lighting struck the nightclub and the fire completely destroyed it!

The club owner, knowing that the church people had been praying for something like this to happen, took the church to court and sued for damages. His lawyer claimed that their prayers had caused the loss. Of course, the church also hired an attorney who fought the claim. After much deliberation, the judge declared, ‘It is the opinion of the court that wherever the guilt may lie, the nightclub owner is the one who really believes in prayer, while the church members evidently do not!”

In my own life, I have continually been surprised by the power of prayer. It is not that I haven’t experienced prayers that seem to to be un-answered. I have. And, I’ve noticed that other prayers are not answered exactly according to our wishes – or on our timeline. Sometimes looking back, it is hard to understand why. Other times on reflection, we can see great wisdom and grace in God’s response – or unresponsiveness.

On the whole, I’ve come to trust that God’s love is at work – even during those times when I don’t understand God’s answer. And over the years, I’ve come to believe very deeply that our prayers matter. They draw us more closely into the very Source of life and love and hope. I’ve seen too many prayers answered, lives changed, situations turned around, to not believe that God is good.

Let us pray: Awesome God, there are moments in each of our lives when we realize that we have nowhere else to turn. You are our hope and our salvation. We love you, Lord, and we trust you. Hear our prayers, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.