The Power of Prayer

Colossians 4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Matthew 21:22, Jesus said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Mark 11:24, Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Prayer can be particularly powerful. Those of us who have experienced answered prayers can attest to that.

My wife and I are dog lovers and have always had at least two Siberian Huskies in our family since our kids were little. In April of 2008 one of our huskies bolted out of our home and ran away. Siberian Huskies are notorious runners and many runaway huskies, when found, are sometimes recovered more than 100 miles away from home.  This was a particularly tough time for us since two of our huskies, Digger and Nikka, had recently succumbed to cancer within months of one another. Sakari was adopted from Adopt a Husky, Inc. in July of 2007, and since there were highways with speed limits over 45 MPH all around, we prayed that she would be found and returned safely to us. Several weeks passed and even though we searched every day, notified every animal shelter, veterinarian's office and police department within a 100 mile radius and all of the Adopt a Husky volunteers were searching, we heard nothing.

A woman who lived about 8 miles away from us and had no knowledge that Sakari was missing, was praying on her drive home. She was asking God for an answer. As she passed beneath the train overpass on a state highway near our home, she felt the Spirit nudge her that she would find an answer there. She ignored the nudge and continued on home. The next day the same thing happened, again she ignored the Spirit's nudge and continued home. For the third day in a row the Spirit finally compelled her to stop. She got out of her car, climbed up the steep incline to the train tracks and started walking down the tracks. About 50 yards from the bridge, she found the remains of a dog wearing a pink leather collar with tags. Sakari had been struck by a train and killed. She removed the collar and tags and called us to inform us that she had found Sakari. God used this woman to give us an answer to our prayer. It was not the answer that we had hoped for, but at least we were able to find closure.

1 Thessalonians 5:16, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 6:18, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all of the Lord’s people.” We must continue to pray for our brothers and sisters held hostage by the false teachings of the ELCA. Pray continually that the Lord will lift up leaders within the ELCA that will rise up, defend the authority of Scripture and condemn this false teaching. Pray that God will open their hearts and minds and that they will ignore those that seek to discard Scripture and replace it with their own selfish cravings. James 5:15, “And the prayer offered in faith will make them well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.”

Prayer can move mountains. Prayer can and will save God’s children that are trapped in the ELCA. When we give ourselves to the Lord in prayer, He will listen to our petitions. We must remain diligent in our prayers believing that the Lord will answer us and save his children.