God’s Power Revealed Through Prayer

Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

1 Thessalonians 5:17–18

How many times have you heard someone say, “All I can do is pray”?

All I can do is pray?! You might as well say to a starving man, “All I can do is offer you food,” or to a sick person, “All I can do is give you medicine that will make you well,” or to a poor child, “All I can do is buy the toy you most want for your birthday.”

Praying unlocks the doors of heaven and releases the power of God. James 4:2 says, “Ye have not, because ye ask not.” And Jesus said, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:22).

Many of us want to do a work for God, but few of us want to spend hours in prayer to God. It goes against our natural inclinations to pray, which is precisely why prayer counts so much with God. It is unnatural. It is, in fact, supernatural! And it always gets God’s attention.

I am sometimes amused when people tell me, “God answered my prayer.” What they mean is that God gave them what they asked for. But if He had not granted their request, He would still have answered their prayer. We forget that “No” and “Wait” are also answers, as is “Yes.”

I have answered every request made by my children to me. The answer has not always been what they wanted, but it has always been in accordance with what I have thought was best for them at the time. God is the same way, except that His answers are always right and good and best, while mine may or may not have been.

And remember, whether prayer changes our situation or not, one thing is certain: prayer will change us!

Our Father and our God, thank You for the incredible blessings You have given me. I praise You for Your great generosity and constant care. Please give me the heart to hear Your answers to my prayers, even when the answer is “Wait” or “No.” Help me to accept Your lordship of my life, knowing that You have only my greatest good in mind. Through Christ, my Lord. Amen.

Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).