The Power of Prayer

This week I have been preparing to speak for a ladies day in Weatherford, Oklahoma.  In the midst of that preparation that has been going on for more than a month, there have been so many things that have been going on.  Things that have been distracting.  Things that have been serious and not so serious.

Prayer is something that comes easy for me when doing with my children, but has never come easy to me for myself.  I have always wanted my children to have a stronger and deeper prayer life at their ages than I had in mine at those times.

Prayer is still something that I struggle with, I think because of my independent personality.  I don't always think to pray like I should.  I do pray, but not as often as I should.  I pray prayers of thankfulness in all of my prayers and the most often.  I pray prayers of repentance, but not as often as I need to.  I certainly need forgiveness often!  And I'm not always good at praying for my needs or for God's guidance/strength, etc.  I rarely, if ever, pray for my wants.

So this week some things were troubling me. I decided to pray bold prayers.  I told God exactly what I wanted.  I prayed that God would either take care of the trouble or calm me.  Which taking care of the trouble WOULD calm me, I wanted peace if the trouble stayed.  Another thing going on is still ongoing, but I'm continuing to pray about it, as well.  The first trouble was taken care of by God.  Even before I knew that I was calmer.  I knew that everything was going to be taken care of by God, no matter what.  I had faith that He was going to take care of the problem in however it needed to be - whether it was what I would have wanted or not.  Either way, I knew God would help me to be calm.

I kept reciting the last sentence of this verse as I prayed fervently:

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16

When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, he quoted scripture back at Satan.  I try to do that. I just tell Satan he is not going to tempt me in that way....tempt me to worry, become stressed, get upset, etc.....well, on certain things. I need to do it with some of my food/Sonic drink things!!!  But I have found if I do that, it really works for me.  Of course, in doing that, I totally believe it's the Holy Spirit of God working and helping me in those ways as I pray about them.  But I do believe that's how we can resist the devil - by telling him to GO!

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7

There's definitely power in prayer.  We may not always depend upon it as we should, but this week, once again, I can know that it does work.  And so when I'm upset about something that I can't control or shouldn't control....or really even when I can control it.....I need to pray, "God, if it is your will, calm this storm.  If it is not your will to calm it, then calm me."  Maybe you need to pray that prayer, too.

Depend on the power of prayer.  It will get you through whatever comes your way.