TOPIC: PRAYERS CHANGES THINGS AND SITUATIONS
Bible Reading: Nehemiah 12-13; Acts 4:23-37
“And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,” Acts 9:11 (KJV)
Prayer moves the heart of God. He is ever attentive to His children. A father’s ear is tuned to the voice of his children; he can recognize his child’s voice over any sound of a busy store or the noise of many children playing together at a park. Our Heavenly Father has no trouble recognizing your voice in the midst of this world’s commotion. He loves it when you pray. He longs to hear your voice. He is always and ever ready to bear your burdens and fill you with peace. When you pray, always have confidence that God can hear your prayer! Have confidence that God wields the power to answer your prayer according to His perfect will. “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:” 1 John 5:14 (KJV).
When we pray, our Almighty Father has many options to answer our prayers. In today’s memory verse, we see God’s ability to move other people as a direct result of our prayer. Saul of Tarsus had met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was traveling there to persecute and punish those who believed Jesus. However, God had other plans and introduced Himself to Saul as the glorified Son of God. Saul, the persecutor, put his faith in Jesus Christ and became Saul, the Christian, later named Paul. He became blind by the glory of God in his meeting with Jesus. He was confused as what to do next. He had spent years hunting and punishing Christians and now he is one! No one want to believe his conversion. Most people saw it as a trick to draw out believers to be imprisoned or killed. “And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.” Acts 9:26 (KJV) .
These makes Saul helpless and have to pray for help from God. Helplessness is a powerful ingredient to prevailing prayer. Saul was helpless and alone with no direction or purpose. But He was not truly alone. God heard his prayers. In answer to Saul’s prayer, God moved in the heart of a man named Ananias. God used Ananias to come to Saul’s aid and help him along his Christian Journey. There would be no famous “Apostle Paul” without little known Ananias.
God works in hearts as a result of prayer. God can move in a Christian’s heart to notice and fill a need. God can encourage an unbeliever’s heart such as a government official to act in a certain way as He did with Nebuchadnezzar. God can draw an unbeliever to Himself. Usually, God will not force His will upon another as he allows us to operate with a free will. Nevertheless, God is moving and working in the hearts of mankind every day.
Prayer: Father, turn my heart to believe every prayer carries power, and the confidence of answers in Jesus Name.
Pastor Alfred Samuel