A Glorious Weapon

“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” – 1 Peter 3:12

Prayer: what an odd concept to the world.  How often has the devil tried to tell a servant of God; “who are you talking to?  He is not there to hear.”  The devil is a liar: “the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers.”  Prayer is a divinely appointed vehicle of accomplishment.  You can find this vein of thought throughout the scripture; much has been accomplished through earnest prayer of the righteous.  Do you affirm this?  Would you agree that prayer changes things?  If so, when we can do nothing else, we can pray.  Living a righteous life and engaging in effectual, fervent prayer will do more good than we can quantify.  

            What is prayer?  What is the act of praying?  The scriptures will bear out that it is an avenue to which one can approach God.  Stop and consider the gravity of this.  We as mortal man can approach the throne of the Almighty with our: requests, our problems, our thankfulness; we can communicate with God; we have his ear.  With this in the forefront of your mind, recall recent occasions where you have engaged in prayer; did you pray as though you were standing in the presence of the King of Kings?  Was your prayer earnest?  Was it from the heart?  I will confess that I am guilty of being in the place where I view my prayer life as a life raft; rather than the engine itself.  The falsehood of thinking my little boat of life needs only to pray when the storm is raging; how satan will deceive us!  “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much!”  Prayer works!  It is an effective weapon for this warfare we are engaged in.  We must cast aside the lie satan is telling us: “you are but one, you can do nothing.”  Not so!  If you can get a prayer through to God; you can do so very much!  Prayer can move mountains; prayer can change lives!  Prayer can bring about revival!  It has before, what is to stop it from doing it again; except ourselves?  Though we sometimes cannot see the profit that comes from our prayer that does not mean that no profit comes from it; “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9)

            Every day, I hear bad news.  I hear about the bad government we have, I hear about the bad school system, the bad economy, the bad church attendance, the bad people, living in this bad world, and every time I hear it I think the same thing………what can I do?  Pray……”yes Lord I know but what else.”  Pray.  “I am going to do that, but are you sure there is not a……”  Pray.  Really and truly pray; commit your time to it; like more than 5 minutes worth.  Pour your heart out; allow you soul to be burdened for the lost, for the poor, for the broken.  When did praying and living holy become not enough?  When did programs, human ingenuity, fancy lights, and flamboyant worship services take the place of soul burdened and earnest hearted prayer?  Prayer has worked and will continue to work; if we believe in it and practice it.

            Prayer is not an institution of man, but rather an institution of God.  It requires humility, faith, obedience, and belief; all the things that are “foolishness to the world.”  Let us examine ourselves and ask: “Are we using this great weapon of prayer to fight the enemy? To fight for the souls of those we love, and those we ought to love?”  Or do we settle for something man designed, or rather, spend our time to design something ourselves.  Prayer has worked, does work, and will work.  So, if you have a story or a testimony of when you prayed and your prayer was answered; share it.  Share it to a friend, neighbor, brother or sister.  Post it or publish it so that others may believe “for the very works sake.”  Now, this instant, let the call ring out to the masses that prayer works, and the saints must pray; and if we are praying now, let us pray the more earnestly and fervently still.  For the “eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers.”