The Power to Change the World

Posted On October 17, 2021

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

James 5:16 NIV

“Pray without ceasing.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV

As Christians, we know we are supposed to pray. We pray in church on Sunday, we give thanks for our meals, we offer prayers for friends and family, and we pray for help when we’re struggling. We believe God is listening and that He wants us to do this, but does it really change anything? I mean, isn’t God just going to do what He’s going to do anyway?

Let’s look at an example from Scripture. In Exodus 32 Moses had been up on the mountain talking to God while the impatient Israelites had been busy worshiping a golden calf and indulging in pagan revelry. The Lord, angry at their disobedience, was ready to destroy them: “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation” (Exodus 32:9-10 NLT). But Moses interceded on their behalf, begging God to reconsider and reminding God of His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Did it make a difference? Here’s what happened: “So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people” (Exodus 32:14 NLT).

“This is the promise of prayer! We can change God’s mind! His ultimate will is inflexible, but the implementation of his will is not. He does not change in his character and purpose, but he does alter his strategy because of the appeals of his children. We do not change his intention, but we can influence his actions.”

Max Lucado, Before Amen

We can change God’s mind! We can influence His actions. He wants us to take part in His Kingdom work, so He invites our input. He can weave His will into existence in a million different ways, so He leaves a lot of the details up to us. And He listens to what we have to say. So what does this mean? It means we can influence history through our prayers.

“History does not belong to the powerful, or the wealthy, or the rulers, or the armies, or the corporations, or the global media empires. What they do on their own, apart from God, may look impressive for a time. But the day will come when all merely human actions will be tossed, forgotten, on the ash heap of the dead past. History belongs to the intercessors — to those who believe and pray the future into being.”

John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Luke 11:9-10 NIV

Jesus tells us to ask, seek, and knock, and God will answer. He may not always answer right away, but He doesn’t want us to give up. He tells us to be persistent. In fact, in the New Living Translation, “ask, seek, knock” is translated as “keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking”. When we pray, we have a direct line to the all-powerful Creator and Sustainer of the universe, and we can influence His actions. This means our prayers can lead to amazing, life-changing, and world-altering things!

“The Bible’s teaching on prayer leads overwhelmingly to one conclusion: Prayer changes things. . . . You don’t know how many people have been strengthened because you asked God to encourage them; how many people have been healed because you prayed for their bodies; how many spiritual runaways have come home because you prayed for their souls. None of us may ever know the true effects of our prayers this side of death. But we do know this: History belongs to the intercessors.”

John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted

“‘I can’t help them, but , God, you can.’ This prayer gets God’s attention. . . . When you knock on his door, he responds quickly and fairly. Jesus never refused an intercessory request. Ever!”

Max Lucado, Before Amen

Our prayer power is especially effective when we use it for others. Max Lucado describes what happened to Freddy Vest, a cowboy who went into cardiac arrest during a calf roping competition in Texas. Already dead, he fell of his horse and hit the ground. As a firefighter administered CPR, the onlookers in the arena began to pray for him. Forty-five minutes later, as he was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital, he began to recover. Freddy recalls his experience:

“I was with the Lord . . . . God allowed me to see the prayers that came up for me. It started with one bolt of light. And then there were two bolts of light and three. Then there was ten. And then there was like hundreds, and then there were thousands of bolts of light. Each one of those bolts of light was a prayer that someone had sent up for me. And when there got to be so many bolts of light, it exploded into the brightest light . . . That’s when God sent me back.”

Freddy Vest, as quoted by Max Lucado in Before Amen

“You are never more like Jesus than when you pray for others. Pray for those you love; pray for those you don’t. Pray for this hurting world. . . . God will give you plenty of blessings to take back to them.”

Max Lucado, Before Amen

“The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.”

Revelation 8:4 NIV

In Revelation 8 (NIV) we are told that when an angel brought the “prayers of God’s people” (vs. 4) to the altar, “there was silence in heaven for about half an hour” (vs. 1). When the prayers of God’s people were brought before God, everything else in heaven stopped. John Ortberg describes what happened next:

“Following this come great acts of judgment on the earth — pictured by rumbles of thunder, flashes of lightning, and great earthquakes. But what is most striking is that these acts come in response to the prayers of the saints. . . . All of heaven stops so the prayers of the saints — your prayers and mine, every one of them — can rise before God. They are heard. They matter. Prayers of real human beings — like you and me — interrupt heaven. And what happens next on earth happens because people pray.”

John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted

What happens on earth happens because people pray. Our prayers do make a difference. Our prayers can change God’s mind and influence His actions. He wants us to be involved in His work. He wants us to pray for ourselves, for others, and for His Kingdom to come “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10 NIV). When we do, we have the power to change the world. For heaven’s sake, and ours, let’s use it!

” . . . you may never know the impact of your prayers. Just remember, the Lord you serve ‘is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works withing us’ (Eph. 3:20). He may do more through your intercession for others than you could ever dream. Keep talking to him and praying for them.”

Charles F. Stanley, Prayer: The Ulitmate Conversation

This week’s Scripture passages focus on the power we receive from heaven and the power of prayer. God calls us to pray, not because He just wants to hear us talk, but because there is great power in our words when we offer them in prayer. When we stay connected to God through prayer and walk in obedience to Him, nothing can stop us! As The Message paraphrase of James 5:16 puts it: “The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.”

“God’s kingdom isn’t just a lot of words. It is power.”

1 Corinthians 4:20 CEV

References:

• Lucado, Max. Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer. Thomas Nelson, 2014.
• Ortberg, John. The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People. Zondervan, 2002.
• Stanley, Charles F. Prayer: The Ultimate Conversation. Howard Books, 2012.

Images:

• Powerful Man featured image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
• Sphere with Purple Lightning image by Bluemount_Score from Pixabay
• Lightning Bolt image by FelixMittermeier from Pixabay
• Bolts of Light image by Chris S from Pixabay
• Sphere with Blue Lightning image by Willi Heidelbach from Pixabay (edited by me)
• Blue Electricity image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay