THE POWER OF PRAYER
by
Pauline Dewberry
The Apostle
Paul said in Thessalonians: ‘Pray without ceasing.’
In these
uncertain times it’s easy to sit back feeling powerless and wonder what can be
done; we feel as if we have to be doing something, yet we don’t know what to
do. Well, my friends, we CAN do something – we can pray.
* * *
For the cynics
among you, and I’m sure there will be many, you will be thinking
‘oh yeah, what good is praying going to do?’ Well, what good is NOT
praying going to do?
You see, if
you don’t ask, you don’t get. Let me give you some examples of answered
prayer.
About four
years ago I had quite a few debts mounting up and every morning the mail
delivery would bring more and more bills. Although I budgeted each month, and
paid as many bills as I could, ‘surprise’ bills would always catch me out
and I never seemed to have enough money left over to pay them.
I was reading
my Bible one morning and I felt so burdened that I actually fell on my knees and
cried. Words tumbled out in prayer while tears streamed down my face.
‘Lord,’ I asked, ‘why would you love me when I have such a hard
time with my earthly relationships? Surely, Lord, I have proved how unlovable a
person I am, so why would you love me?’
I was not
knowledgeable about verses in the Bible at that time; Psalm 23 and 1 Corinthians
13 were the only two passages I knew so I was not prepared for what happened
next. In my head came a thought: ‘go
to Isaiah 43, verses 1 – 4.’ What I read blew my mind away and in that
second I knew God was real and what was more, He was actually listening to my
prayers AND answering them!
This is what I
read through my tears:
‘’But now,
this is what the Lord says – he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O
Israel; “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you
are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you
pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the
fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the
Lord, your God. The Holy One of Israel, your Saviour; I give Egypt for your
ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honoured in my
sight, and because I love you.”
I read the
last line again: Since
you are precious and honoured in my sight, and because I love you.
God had
answered me with my own words – my heart leapt at those words and my faith
increased several hundredfold.
I continued
praying, only this time, I was giving thanks that not only had God listened to
me He actually loved me. For the first time in a very long time, I felt as if I
actually mattered to someone.
My heart
started singing and I ‘felt’ an answer come into my head as to what I should
do about the bills. It was such a simple solution I was annoyed with myself for
not thinking of it before and once I put it into operation, the bills were paid
off in a matter of weeks. My debts
were soon more manageable until they, too, were finally paid off and I could
start each month with a clean slate.
During this
time, I noticed that if a bill came in and I didn’t have the money, if I
prayed for the exact amount a gift of money in an envelope invariably came
through the letterbox within a day or so (sometimes within hours!) with the
exact amount I needed. I never knew
who my benefactors were but they were just being obedient to God who would ask
them to give to someone who was in need.
Not only were
they blessing me, but God blessed them too – so it was always a win-win
situation. With God on your side, it is always a win-win situation.
Probably a
year or so later, I was getting ready to go to church one Sunday, and putting on
my tired old coat with the torn lining I said to the Lord, ‘I’ll speak to
you later about a new coat, Lord.’
When I arrived
at my little church the pastor ‘s wife came up to me and asked if she could
have a word with me. Thinking I had done something wrong, I quietly said yes, of
course she could, expecting to be berated for something. But imagine my surprise
when she said to me: ‘I know this
might sound funny, but the Lord has told me to buy you a new coat.’
You could have
knocked me down with a feather, although I don’t know why I am always
surprised when God answers my prayers, or even my unasked-as-yet prayers!
I told her about my conversation with God not 20 minutes before and we
hugged each other. She bought me a new coat and I was able to give one that no
longer fitted me (which I had been holding onto in the hope I would lose weight)
to a friend who had had hers stolen.
At the time
when I had a lot of debt, I was living on a very small amount of money and was
waiting for a date for a tribunal to reinstate some benefit money that I had
been receiving because of ill health. I had failed a medical and as a result, my
benefit had been stopped immediately. This was a few weeks before Christmas –
good timing, huh?!
As I had six
cats, three who were just kittens newly rescued from appalling living
conditions, I needed every ounce of my faith in order that we all ate for the
week. Each week I would work out what needed replacing in the larder, fridge,
freezer and cupboards, make a list and pray for the items. I knew I could manage
on £50 a week, which sounds a bit steep but 40 tins of cat food came to almost
£20 a week which only left £30 for the things I needed.
Time and time
again bags of groceries would be left on my front door step or anonymous
envelopes containing EXACTLY £50 would come through my letterbox. Time and time
again, God provided exactly what I needed and sometimes there would be a few
surprises, little treats that I hadn’t expected or asked for.
A couple of
weeks before Christmas, I received a stack of mail and the first envelope I
opened had news from a good friend telling me that her Mother had just passed
away. As I didn’t have enough
money to buy her a condolence card I thought I could ‘make-do’ with a
notelet that I had, and write something suitable inside. It was also another
friend’s birthday within a day or so, and I intending on using another notelet
to serve as his birthday card. As I
didn’t have enough money for any stamps to send either card to each friend I
immediately began praying that somehow, somewhere, two 1st class
stamps could be found, because both cards were important.
The next
envelope I opened was a Christmas card from a wonderful couple in my church. And
guess what! Yes, you’ve guessed! There were two 1st class stamps
enclosed with their card! Isn’t God amazing?
The build up
to Christmas was getting harder and harder. I had written out all my Christmas
cards but didn’t have enough money for postage. I had walked the streets
delivering as many as I could by hand but some had to go further afield. I had
50 cards to post and I needed every single penny of the prayed for (yet to
arrive) £50 for food so there would be nothing left over for postage.
Two days after
I received the first class stamps, I received a phone call from a friend who
went to another church nearby. She
was at the local hairdressers and said God had put me on her heart – would I
call in because she wanted to give me something? I hurried up to the salon and
found her under a drier. She gave
me an envelope which contained £50 and 50 2nd-class stamps!
She said she
had bought too many stamps but hadn’t known why – now she did, because they
were obviously meant for me! Isn’t God good?
I could go on
and on about the power of prayer and the Goodness of God and all the many
blessings I have received over the years. But what do we do when it seems our
prayers are not answered, or we don’t get the answer we want.
Sometimes when
God says ‘maybe’ or ‘no’ it ‘s because we are not meant to have what
we have asked for; or maybe our motive for wanting it was wrong or if we had
what we asked for, it wouldn’t do us any good. Sometimes ‘maybe’ is a way
of making us wait - much like our parents did when we were children when we
asked for something which was perhaps out of their price range. Sometimes, we
actually forget all about it and realize we didn’t really want it anyway.
God also tests
us during this waiting time. He tests our morals, our motives, and our patience.
Sometimes he says ‘no’ because He has something much better lined up for us
but He wants us to wait until He thinks we are ready to receive it. It may seem
hard but if everything in life came so easily would we be so anxious to thank
Him all the time? I think not. If we had to save up for something we wanted we
appreciate it all the more because we had to go without something else maybe, in
order to get it.
Sometimes all
it requires is faith and God tests us to see how faithful we are to Him and how
much faith we have to receive the gifts He has prepared for us. During my lean
times I lived on next to nothing and fed 6 cats and myself. I managed to get
myself out of debt and even have a little left over each week. I didn’t do
this by myself although an unbelieving person would say I did.
I could only do these extraordinary things through the power of prayer
and my unshakeable faith in God Himself.
Finally, a
date was set by the Benefits Agency for my tribunal hearing. I had endured 8
months without money, other than a small amount from another source. I was so
nervous about the tribunal, I prayed non-stop for days and once again I heard a
voice telling me to look up a Scripture, Psalm 37 verses 5 and 6 and again, I
couldn’t believe my eyes.
“Commit your
way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your
righteousness shine like the dawn, and the justice of your cause like the
noonday sun.”
The day
arrived, my hearing was set for 12.00 noon, and I sat before five people on the
panel. A friend who had once been my boss accompanied me to speak in my defense but he was not allowed to do so. I
kept praying certain Scriptures over and over in my mind, recalling God’s
promises and also saying ‘not my will, Lord, but Yours, be done.’
The panel
adjourned for 30 minutes to discuss the merits of my arguments and when I was
called back into the room, I couldn’t tell from their faces whether I had been
successful or not. Eventually, the spokesman said that my appeal had been
successful and all the money would be backdated and the weekly benefit would be
reinstated straight away.
I silently
thanked the Lord but when I got home, I really sang His praises and spent a lot
of time in prayer, giving Him the glory He deserved.
Prayer is me
being me in the presence of God being God. Prayer is a relationship which builds
up and strengthens over time. Prayer is worth the effort I put in, because I
receive so much more than I actually ask for.
People are
often very dismissive about prayer. Maybe it is because prayers of their own
have not been answered but maybe they were asking for the wrong things.
I often think that people who say prayer doesn’t work haven’t really
got into a deep meaningful relationship with God. To give up so easily is such a
shame and such a waste because God does bless His children all the time. Prayers
don’t get answered if you don’t pray! I
would rather pray and the answer is ‘maybe’ or ‘no’ than not pray at all
and spent the rest of my life wondering ‘what if?’
Sit down today
when you have that cup of tea or coffee and just start out quietly praising the
Lord. Soon you’ll forget the coffee and just want to spend any minute you can
in the Lord’s presence. Keep a
prayer diary where you record the things you have prayed for, the date, and when
it is answered. If you had a ‘maybe’ compare the outcome with what you asked
for and do the same if you had a ‘no’. In each case, the outcome will be
much better than what you originally asked for.
If you don’t
know what to pray for or how to start off, begin with the Lord’s Prayer, the
one Jesus Himself taught the Disciples and go from there.
And for
everyone who is struggling right now, here is another famous prayer:
“God grant
me the courage to change the things I can change, the serenity to accept those I cannot change and the wisdom to know the
difference, but God grant me the courage not to give up on what I think is
right, even though I think it is hopeless. Amen”
May you each
know the joy of The Father’s love for you, now and always.
* * *
Copyright 2002
by Pauline
Dewberry
Pauline is currently owned by 6 cats, 5 gingers
and 1 sleek black smoothie. In return for gourmet meals and light domestic
duties she is allowed to rent a room in their home. When they watch TV they
often allow her to join them as her lap provides additional seating. Pauline
is quoted: 'Cats don't criticize your cooking and don't tell you you're
overweight. They just smile sympathetically and hide the chocolates!
You can visit Pauline at http://www.thedailymews.com
