Day 94: Power Released By Prayer - Devotional

The Return ^ | Oct 13, 2020

[metmom]

We are seeing calamities on a scale never before witnessed: hurricanes, fires, floods, droughts, national unrest. Fear and despair abound on every side and even the most skeptical commentators say we’re already seeing the beginning of World War III.

What can God’s people do to move his heart in these troubled times? Surely the church is not powerless. The prophet Joel said, “‘Now, therefore,’ says, the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart’ … Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness” (Joel 2:12-13).

All the Old Testament prophets called God’s people to corporate prayer. Jesus himself declared, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called the house of prayer’” (Matthew 21:13). The fact is, world history has been shaped by the prayers of Christ’s church.

The Holy Spirit was first given in God’s house, at the Upper Room. There the disciples “continued with one accord in prayer” (Acts 1:14). We’re told that Peter was released from prison by an angel, while “many were gathered together praying” (12:12). Corporate prayer had been made continually for Peter’s release.

Clearly, God releases much power because of the prayers of his church. Thus, the call to such prayer cannot be underestimated. We know the church has been commissioned to win souls, to do charity, to serve as the gathering place for God’s Word to be preached. But first and foremost, the church is to be a house of prayer — this is its primary calling.

“If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19).

But the power of prayer isn’t reserved for large gatherings alone; we can find it in the intimacy of our own homes. Jesus practiced and recommended closet prayer to his disciples. “When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6). The homes in Jesus’ culture had an inner room that served as sort of storage closet, a place where they could pray in secret, so this concept was easy for them to grasp.

Jesus set the example for private prayer: “In the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35). “When He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray … He was alone there” (Matthew 14:23).

[Bob434]

disagree with his opening statement- hurricanes have not grown worse- it actually fell from 1990 to 2017, nor have floods- they have decreased as well- infact they are down sharply- Forrest fires are also on the decline-

“A study by scientists with the Canadian Forest Service compared temperatures and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations versus frequency of forest fires over 150 years in North America and Northern Europe beginning in 1850. Not only did they not find a correlation between an increase in CO2 with an increase in forest fires they found a decrease in fires with an increase in CO2. This is illustrated in Figure 1 from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) from 1962 to 2017.”

WW3? Nope- -

https://www.cfact.org/2020/03/20/forest-fires-on-the-decline-believe-it/

Other than that- yes, prayer is much needed still, for this country- We are in a fight to maintain the Republic against a faction that hates everything America stands for, and is attacking in many different ways- to undermine this country- - it’s gotten worse in the last decade because of our previous president and the msm, and how they emboldened the left to take off the gloves and come out swinging against everything we stand for- people are much angrier- much more violent now-

The lawless One does ‘seem to be increasing’ in power- but don’t forget- in past times, Evil was really bad- really bad- Christians were murdered en mass for sport- in the most brutal and horrific ways- so it’s hard to tell if the end times are near, or if it’s just a continuation of the Evil that has always been around?

But yes, we need to pray aND pray hard that God will work to restore this country to the moral standards we once held- and not allow us to continue sliding into the gutters like we have been under past administrations- Our president needs much prayer- He is under constant unrelenting attack by people that loathe everything America stands for