Category: Power of Prayer

The Source of our Strength

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Faith, Power, Power of Prayer, Praise, Thank You Jesus, Victorious Life, WorshipLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Zechariah 12

OBSERVATION

Zechariah 12:3-5 ~ …. When all nations on earth surround Jerusalem, I will make every horse panic and every rider confused. But at the same time, I will watch over Judah. Then every clan in Judah will realize that I, the LORD All-Powerful, am their God, and that I am the source of their strength.

APPLICATION

God had protected Judah in so many ways, yet they kept on sinning and committing such evil deeds. Yet He (God) did another miracle in this particular battle realizing that His power would have to be recognized and then He would be given credit as the source of that miracle. Wow, what an awesome God! However I believe that I can very aptly reword that passage into something like this today: God had protected America in so many ways, yet they kept on sinning and committing such evil deeds. For God has blessed us so much as a nation, but yet we see Christians lackadaisical about reaching those that denounce the power, or even the existence, of God. Let’s consider this even in our local churches, where we see miracles wrought by God – yes, things that can only be explained as answer to prayer where we have seen God intervene and heal in a person’s life, or a total change of a situation that may have been affecting the church, yet we sit back and doubt the power of God or doubt the effectiveness of prayer? These are reasons to recognize God for the awesome power that He has displayed and for His compassion to work in our midst, then as His blessed servants, to celebrate in praise to the Almighty. In fact, this gives us reassurance and reason to be even bolder in our approach to the throne of God for even greater needs. Let us be quick to recognize God for His wonderful mercy and His great miracles that He works in our midst. There is nothing that our God can’t handle, for He is the source of our strength!

PRAYER

Father God, I have seen Your hand at work on more than one occasion and I have heard praise reports of even more cases where You have intervened through healing, protection, or just facilitating a situation that seemed impossible to myself or a fellow Christian. I recognize that You are the source of my strength, and our strength as a church, or a body of believers. May I always look for the work that You do, and use that to not only build on my dependence of You, but to especially use that to praise and glorify Your holy name. You are an awesome and all powerful God, may I be quick to not only ask for help, but to recognize Your hand at work and to celebrate that in praise to You. Thank You for loving me enough to be the source of my strength!

Let’s Just Praise the Lord!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Power of Prayer, Praise, Thank You Jesus, Victorious Life, WorshipLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Luke5

OBSERVATION

Luke 5:24-26 ~ … Jesus then said to the man, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk home.” At once the man stood up in front of everyone. He picked up his mat and went home, giving thanks to God. Everyone was amazed and praised God. What they saw surprised them, and they said, “We have seen a great miracle today!”

APPLICATION

The man that was once lame, after being healed, took up his bed and walked home giving thanks to God! Everyone was amazed at what they had seen and they praised God! My God is alive today and miracles are still happening. What has happened to God’s people for us to seem so unmoved by the miracles of God today? I believe that several reason have attributed to this, although none of them should really stop us from giving God praise for the mighty works that He does every day:

  • We often give doctors credit for things wrought by God. Thank God for the great doctors we have today and for the way that medical science has developed, but my family once asked a doctor if a family member would live to overcome a serious illness and the doctor correctly and honestly responded “I don’t know that, I’m not God”. There are times that doctors are amazed by the progress someone has made, or how they have overcome a certain medical condition. They know that there is nothing medically that they have done to help that person and, if that doctor knows God personally, they will quickly say where that healing must have originated. There is so much to praise God for each time we see a brother or a sister overcome illness. Let’s not forget to go back to the throne where we petitioned God to touch that person, and offer up thanksgiving and praise for answered prayer.
  • False prophets – there is so much being done today for the sake of television, publicity, or for self edification, that children of God discern, and then doubt, when they hear about what some consider ‘healing’ from an individual, rather than from God. This has been so widespread that we tend to question everything (in our own minds) anymore. This is unfortunate, but should be a discerning factor and therefore not interfere with our praising God for His amazing work in the lives of those that we pray for.

Bottom line is that we need to remember each time that we pray from someone and see answers to prayer, we need to rejoice personally, and we need to share that with our church family so that they could praise God with us, and so they could be encouraged to also pray for loved ones they know who may need a touch from God. God is still in the miracle working business. Join me in looking for those miracles and then let us praise the Almighty for the great work that He does in our midst. ‘

Instant Response to Prayer!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Christian, Forgiveness, Love, Obedience, Power of Prayer, Righteousness, SinLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Daniel 9

OBSERVATION

Daniel 9:20-23 ~ I was still confessing my sins and those of all Israel to the LORD my God, and I was praying for the good of his holy mountain, when Gabriel suddenly came flying in at the time of the evening sacrifice. …. and he explained: Daniel, I am here to help you understand the vision. God thinks highly of you, and at the very moment you started praying, I was sent to give you the answer.

APPLICATION

I admire the tenacity of Daniel in this chapter. After reading from his study of writings of Jeremiah the prophet that Jerusalem would suffer/lie in ruins for seventy years, Daniel showed his deep concern and sorrow by fasting and praying to the Almighty. He didn’t wait for the church to gather, nor did he wait to gather all of the other priests to join him in collective prayer for this news that would have a major impact on the history of this nation. After taking a personal stake in this, not just confessing his own sin, but begging God’s mercy on his nation, the angel Gabriel stopped by to encourage him and let him know that his prayer was heard by God. Wow! I know that we sometime feel like our prayers are hitting the ceiling, but to receive this kind of answer to his prayer must have been miraculous for Daniel. Two more things that God spoke to me on here:

  1. “At the very moment that Daniel started praying” is the actual quote from these verses. God knew the heart of Daniel way before he verbalized his concerns and petitions before God, but at the very moment that he (Daniel) did his part and prayed, God sent the angel Gabriel. This is very powerful! Awesome!
  2. I wonder if what Gabriel said to Daniel was a clarification of something that Daniel may have misunderstood from Jeremiah’s writings, or was it an answer to the prayers of Daniel. The duration of the penalty was reduced from 70 years to 70 weeks! I wonder if the verdict would have stayed as it was, if God didn’t see that at least one man cared enough about his nation that he took the whole concern on his shoulder and petition God for mercy. We were reminded last night that we often hear the Word of God and let it fly right over our heads, hoping that the individual behind us must be the intent of God’s wrath or challenge. However, a whole church, or even a whole nation could be impacted by our sin/stubbornness/rebellion. Conversely, a whole church or even a whole nation could be impacted if God’s people would get off their personal thrones/agendas and humble themselves and pray, because in 1 Chronicles God promises us that THEN He would hear from heaven and heal our nation.

PRAYER

Father I pray that I will not be a stumbling block for the wonderful work that You could perform in the lives of my family, my church, my friends and my nation. Please help me to search deep within and stay so in tuned with Your Word that I would be corrected of tendencies to block Your work. Instead Father, I pray that, like Daniel, I would come to You daily and not just pray for Your powerful touch on my life personally, but also that You would touch my family, my church, my friends, my city, my state and my nation. Please convict us of all sin that separate us from Your will for our lives. Please speak to us in such ways that we would become a people deeply committed to You and reflecting You and Your love in very evident ways to a lost and dying world. I am reminded of a secular song, ‘I want to Be Just Like You’, and would apply that principle to express the desire of my heart today, for I want to be just like You Lord. Please forgive me where and when I fail at that, but please grant me the strength and tenacity to succeed at that each and every day, for it’s You oh Lord that I adore and want to see lifted up and magnified in my life.