Prayer Is Power

Prayer is Power

Webster’s New World Dictionary defines Power when used as a noun:
1.) ability to do or act
2.) vigor; force; strength
3.)authority; influence; legal authority
4.) physical force or energy
5.) a person or thing having great influence, force or authority
Does prayer when used in God’s will have the ability to do or act?
Is prayer a physical force or energy?
Does prayer have vigor; force; and/or strength?
Is prayer a person or thing having great influence, force or authority?
Is Prayer really Power?
We read in Acts 12;1-25; “ Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread. So when he had apprehended him he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.
Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant Prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said “grid yourself and tie on your sandals.” and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” so he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they past the first and second guard post, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and down the street, and immediately the angel departed from him. And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.” So when he had considered this, he come to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. And Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.” Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of prison. And he said, “Go tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place. Then, as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidom; but they came to him with one accord, having made Blastus the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king’s country. So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave oration to them. And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god not of a man!” Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied.
And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and they also took with them John whose surname was Mark.”
When we look at this passage in Acts, one can see some real power plays going on. James the brother of John, one of the twelve, had been put death, Peter is in prison and he is the next one to die by the hand of King Herod. A year ago to the night, we find Peter sleeping in the garden when he should have been praying to keep from falling into temptation. On this night a year later, we find Peter sleeping again knowing he is going to die in the morning, and he was sure of it. For when the angel came to rescue him he did not know if it was real or just a vision. So then how could Peter be so much at peace, chained between two soldiers, to be in a sound state of sleep that the angel had to hit him on the side to awaken him?
We find out in Acts 1:8; “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;” How did the Holy Spirit come upon Peter and the others?
Acts 2:1; “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come; they were all with One Accord in one place.” What is the Fruit of the Spirit?
Galatians 5:22-23; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
Peter being filled with the Holy Spirit had total peace and could rest knowing his tomorrow was in the hands of Jesus. One might say if I die in the morning I am going to see Jesus again face to face, if not I still have work to do and my only reason to be here is to bring Glory to God. Peter had faith in Jesus and in Jesus we find rest even in the face of death. This is why Peter could sleep and not spend his last night alive in a panic prayer mode.
To the church this was a hopeless time so in One Accord the church twisted together in unity, and prayed for a purpose to see God’s Hand move on the behalf of Peter. We read in the New King James, Acts 12: 5 that “constant prayer was offered to God” for Peter. The word constant, is translated from the Greek word; ekenees or ekenes. The Old King James translates it as, without ceasing, American Standard and the N.I.V. state it as earnestly, the New American Standard updated call it fervently. Our Jesus may have used words like, men ought to pray often and not lose heart, or keep knocking and keep asking. To put it in a more modern terminology, do not give up to soon keep praying God is going to deal it with as His perfect wisdom judges best.
Do you think that the church back then had already forgotten Step One?
What is Step One?
They were all of One Accord in unity twisted together for a purpose in prayer to see their God be glorified. Peter was to be put to death in the morning, all earthly hope was lost, so the church assembled at Mary’s house to pray through the night. The body, bride of Christ, the men of the church did not send a five-hundred dollar seed gift offering of faith to Paul and Mark in Jerusalem for them to pray some generic prayer on national television. The burden of prayer fell upon the men of the local church it was their load to carry and thus full fill the law of Christ. Men read Acts 12; again do you see from the eyes of those men of that church how impossible it was for Peter to live through the next day?
Did you see prayer is power?
Did you see how God delivered?
Acts 12:20; “but they came to him {Herod} in one accord and having made Blastus the king’s personal aid their friend, they asked for peace,”
Luke 18;6-8; “Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?”
“I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, Will He really find faith on the earth?”
Jesus said in Matthew:9-11; “Or what man is among you who, if his son ask for bread will give him a stone? Or if he ask a for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is heaven give good things to those who ask Him? The word them and those, is in the plural meaning you and I together asking in prayer.
When dangers increase around us and our friends and the world is spinning out of control, maybe the men of God should become more fervent in prayer. Even though there is no human hope for this country, for our leaders their sins are as great as Sodom, earnestly pray. Our courts rule in favor of the criminals and reward the unjust, men must not lose heart pray often. Even though our law makers make laws that steal from the poor and widows, then we men must offer constant prayer to God. The national debt is an unmovable mountain, high prices, no work and the list goes on we have no power to change or deliver, or heal, we are hopeless, we men of God should we not ektenees {without ceasing} Pray in One Accord? For our God still has the power to interpose* His will as He sees it should be done on earth today, just as He did for Peter then, in an answer to a prayer of unity.
Is prayer power?
Does the Prayer of One Accord still get God’s face to turn and His hand to move to aid his children?
Prayer is just one of those Key’s of the Kingdom of Heaven, Prayer of One Accord is the power that turns that key, which unlocks the Power of God in Heaven and allows it to rain down like a river upon the earth.
Why does our God want us to do things this way?
You Know the answer if you think about it.

Prayer is Power

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