The Power of Prayer

It is said that when Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, a company of some 12 men met for prayer in a room below the pulpit.  Certainly, there was a prayer room in the basement of that church which Spurgeon referred to as the powerhouse of the church.  Inspired by this story, I will often give myself to prayer discreetly when others are faithfully preaching God’s word.

At times, prayer comes easily.  On other occasions, I sense a spiritual battle, and will therefore intensify my prayers. On some such occasions, I have sensed the breakthrough and release as the battle has been one, and the ministry has been fruitful.  Certainly, I can testify to the fact that the most fruitful evangelistic mission during the 25 years in which I was part of a team working with small churches, mostly in rural areas, have been because there was earnest prayer.  The fruitless occasions were when the church we were working with made little effort in prayer.

But this was much more than prayers being said.  These were occasions of spiritual wrestling, when the promises of God were claimed confidently and passionately, and when prayers were made against the spiritual forces that wanted nothing to come of our labours.  One of the most interesting insights into prayer in the New Testament can be found in Colossians 4: 12, where we read, “Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. “.  The Greek word translated here in the NIV means to contend or fight for.  The English word “agony” is derived from the Greek word, and people used to talk about someone agonizing in prayer.  This clearly implies prayer that requires effort – but not necessarily shouting!

By the time you read this it is probably that our webinar on Mission Through Prayer will have taken place.  It is running from 9.00 to 9.45 on Saturday 24^th June.  If it is not too late, you can find the link to join the webinar on the website at www.ruralmissionsolutions.org.uk.  In this webinar, I plan to share the stories of three exceptional situations where earnest prayer led to wonderful blessings as people came to faith in Christ.

I have a good number of favourite Bible verses on the subject of prayer and its effectiveness.  In Acts 12 we read of an impossible situation with Peter in prison.  He is chained between two guards and behind two guarded locked doors.  Yet, he is miraculously set free because the church was praying ceaselessly for him.  In the letter written by James (probably a brother of Jesus), he refers to an experience of Elijah.  He points out that basically, he was no different from you or me.  Several translations describe the prayer as earnest.  We know that despite the lack of evidence, Elijah kept praying and looking expectedly for the answer until it finally came.  It’s yet another valuable insight into prayer that works.  Before the Day of Pentecost, the mother and brothers of Jesus met with other disciples and “devoted themselves to prayer” (See Acts 1:4).

If we want to see God at work in our churches then we must take prayer seriously, making time for it as a priority, and labouring at it until the answer comes.  There is no alternative.

No one can be sure who was the first to quote that there are no atheists in foxholes (a battlefield term).  I believe that many more people pray than we might imagine.  I also think that many would love to know more about prayer.  Partly for that reason, we ran an eight-day outreach encouraging people to pray in three villages.  I have no means of determining how many people started to pray that week, or who have continued to pray, but I believe that this is potentially a powerful way of helping people come to know God.  It can be an evangelistic tool.  For this reason, I will be explaining during the webinar on 24^th June, the strategy we used.  If the opportunity to attend the webinar has gone and you missed it, look up the Free Online Seminars section of www.ruralmissionsolutions.org.uk where you will find a video recording of the webinar.  It should appear there by 28^th June.

I hope that I might have encouraged or even inspired you to put more effort into prayer and make it a priority.  I certainly need to hear that message myself.  Please pray for those who attend the webinar, and for others who will see it on the website or on YouTube.

Current Items for Praise & Prayer

Give thanks with me that the problem with my neck is much improved.

Last Sunday morning, 18^th, I was called in to give support to another prison chaplain as we were expecting a visiting team with a ministry in song.  When I arrived at the prison I discovered that the singing group had cancelled because their lead singer had a vocal problem.  My colleague and I had only minutes to put together an alternative programme based on their Bible readings.  It was an exceptionally good service and well attended.  Give thanks that it caused a buzz in the prison and pray that the message we shared will have ongoing impact among the prison population.

The theme of the past week seems to have been ‘partnership’.  Please pray for the colleagues with whom I share ministry.

Pray for a fruitful outcome from Saturday’s webinar on Mission Through Prayer.

Sunday 25^th June – Northampton Congregational Church in the morning and a civic service in Market Harborough in the afternoon.

Monday 26^th – School Assembly, Lubenham, Leics.

Tuesday 27^th – Regular ministry at Prison, Leics

Thursday 29^th – participating in the Churches Group for Evangelization (London)

Friday to Sunday 30^th – 2^nd – providing vocational guidance and support on a students’ training weekend in Nottingham, in my capacity as a member of a Pastoral Care Board.

Sunday 2^nd July – Clarendon Park Congregational Church, Leicester

Thank you for your prayers on my behalf.  I need them.

Barry