Unused Power
And when [Jesus] had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
Matthew 14:23
John Knox prayed, and the results caused Queen Mary to say that she feared the prayers of John Knox more than she feared all the armies of Scotland.
John Wesley prayed, and revival came to England, sparing the nation the horrors of the French Revolution.
Jonathan Edwards prayed, and revival spread throughout the colonies. History has been changed time after time because of prayer. I tell you, history could be altered and changed again if people went to their knees in believing prayer.
What a glorious thing it would be if millions of Americans would avail themselves of the greatest truth this side of heaven: Jesus Christ died to make communion and communication with the Father possible. He told us of the joy in heaven when one sinner turns from sin to God, and in his heart breathes the simple prayer, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Today we have learned to harness the power of the atom, but very few of us have learned how to develop fully the power of prayer. We have not yet learned that a man can be more powerful on his knees than behind the most powerful weapons that can be developed.
We have not learned that a nation is more powerful when it unites in earnest prayer to God than when its resources are channeled into weapons. We have not discovered that the answer to our problems can be through contact with God.
When the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, teach us to pray,” the Savior answered their request by giving them His model petition, “The Lord’s Prayer.” The Lord’s Prayer, however, was only the beginning of His sacred instruction. In scores of passages, Christ offered further guidance, and because He practiced what He preached, His whole life was a series of lessons on prevailing prayer.
Have you learned His lessons yet?
Our Father and our God, be merciful to me, a dreadful sinner whose failures offend You greatly every day. Look into my heart and find a place of purity where You can live. Chase away my pride and prejudice. Destroy my hate and hopelessness. Save me through Jesus, my Lord and Savior. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).