What Is One Prayer?

I don’t know about you, but I often feel overwhelmed by the daily news. But one prayer can make a difference.

Whether it’s in my community, the state, our nation, or the world, the amount of evil out there is just plain disturbing. I know that many good things are also happening, but those are often overshadowed by what isn’t.

Prayer is the powerful antidote to evil.

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To counteract this helpless, hopeless feeling, Mary and I thought it would be helpful for us to focus our prayers. Even when an event seems so horrific that we despair of being able to do anything to help, we need to remember that prayer is the powerful antidote to evil. Let us not ever forget that. The enemy wants us to be overwhelmed and ineffective. That is not what the Bible says.

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16

The Greek word for powerful in this sentence is Ischyo.  Are you ready for its definition? It means “to be effective, capable of producing results.” Wow. Our prayers are capable of producing results —  even when ISIS is on the move, even when the diagnosis is cancer, even when aborted baby parts are being sold on the market, even when refugees are backed up on a country’s border.

To help us focus our prayers, several times a week, we will select a person, issue, or topic for us to pray about. The reminder will be short, perhaps just a sentence or two in the sidebar of our website OnlyByPrayer under the heading One Prayer. Please add your one-minute prayer silently or aloud to the collective praying we will all be doing. If you’d like you can tweet that day’s prayer focus using #OnePrayer.

Let’s stop sticking our heads in the sand and take advantage of the very real power of prayer. God did not make us helpless but bestowed upon us the gift and responsibility of prayer to bring about real change in the world.

Pray on!

Resources for the Current Prayer Concern

9-7-20  Prayers for Wildfires

8-5-20 Beirut Explosion

7-17-20 Coronavirus Prayer Resources

7-17-20: Prayers for our Leaders

7-17-20 Prayers for First Responders

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