Magnificent Prayer #22
Magnificent Prayer #22
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
Colossians 4:2–4
The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil everywhere.
Prayer, in one phase of its operation, is a disinfectant and a preventive. It purifies the air; it destroys the contagion of evil. Prayer is no fitful, short-lived thing. It is no voice crying unheard and unheeded in the silence. It is a voice that goes into God’s ear, and it lives as long as God’s ear is open to holy pleas, as long as God’s heart is alive to holy things.
God shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. The lips that uttered them may be closed in death, the heart that felt them may have ceased to beat, but the prayers live before God, and God’s heart is set on them and prayers outlive the lives of those who uttered them; outlive a generation, outlive an age, outlive a world.
E. M. BOUNDS
Pray About It: Heaven has many surprises in store for us. One of the best will be to see all that our prayers accomplished in the advancement of God’s kingdom. We can fashion future history through prayer. Revivals such as the Great Awakening and the Welsh Revival early in the last century began, as do all revivals, through prayer. Wars have been won through prayer, freedom has been secured through prayer, and peace has been maintained through prayer.
By praying for our leaders, world events, our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world, we help determine their destiny—and ours. We may not live to see all the answers to our prayers, but one day in heaven we’ll see. There are many who prayed years ago for us and our generation. They are now in heaven and they know what their prayers wrought. Now it’s our turn to pray for the generations to follow. In our prayers, we propel the church forward.
You must go forward on your knees.
J. HUDSON TAYLOR
From the book
