Making Use of the Power of Prayer

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)

I’ve often been challenged by the following quote attributed to the great evangelist/preacher Dwight L. Moody: “Next to the wonder of seeing my Savior will be, I think, the wonder that I made so little use of the power of prayer.”

Those who belong to God through faith in Christ Jesus are given almost unbelievable access to the omnipotent ruler of heaven and earth. We have the ear of the Almighty, the One who hears from heaven and is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20). We are told that with Jesus as our great high priest, the one who lives to intercede for us, we can “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:16). We have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us who, even though we do not know what to pray for, “himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom. 8:26).

There is power beyond human comprehension offered to us in prayer.

Yet it seems that rarely do we even come close to making use of the power that God has made available to His people. When faced with hardships, troubles, pain and suffering we might think to call on the name of the Lord, but often as a last resort. When faced with tough decisions we weigh out our options and use our best reasoning and logic to figure out our course of action, but how often do we bring it before God? When threats abound in the forms of temptations, job loss, financial trouble, sickness and persecution, is prayer our natural response or an afterthought?

We worry, we fret, we fear and we let anxiety nearly ruin us. But do we pray?

In 2 Chronicles 20 we read of Judah’s king who was faced with a triple threat. The armies of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir gathered their forces together to battle against God’s people, and king Jehoshaphat was afraid. The enemy was powerful. The threat was real. The situation was too much for the king to handle even with his vast army.

But Jehoshaphat did not allow fear to rule him. Immediately he set his face to seek the Lord. He called all the people of his country to fast and seek help from God. For he knew that: “The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. A war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue” (Ps. 33:16-17).

He knew that his only hope was in the Lord: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies” (Ps. 18:2-3).

So king Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of the people, in the house of the Lord, and prayed. He prayed to a God who is sovereign over all things. He prayed to a God who is good and faithful. He prayed to a God who hears the cries of His people and saves them. He prayed to a God who is just. The king made his appeal to the only One who could rescue him from the triple threat that would have destroyed him.

Jehoshaphat then made a great confession before the Lord on behalf of himself and his people in 2 Chronicles 20:12: “For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

What greater power could he possibly have turned to?

Maybe you’re there. There’s a triple threat coming up against you. You are powerless and you don’t know what to do. Friend, let me urge you to set your face to seek the Lord and turn your eyes upon Him. When He is your light, your salvation and your stronghold, why should you be afraid?