Powerful & Effective Prayers...
Powerful & Effective Prayers: What’s in Your Hands?
What's in your hands? Are your prayers powerful & effective? My answer to that question is yes - my prayers are powerful and effective as it is written in James 5:16 (NIV). When I go to God in prayer, I go boldly before His throne (Hebrews 4:16, NKJV) with my heart and mind fully convinced that He is listening to every single word and that He's compassionate. Here's my personal story combined with scripture (and, of course, an unexpected moment involving Hot Fries) impacted the lives of others.
When I was in the ninth-grade (circa 1994), I would always go home upset because the students on the bus would tease a new girl because of her attire. She happened to live on the end of my block, approximately three houses from mine. The day I could not take it anymore, I stormed into my house pleading her case before my mom. My mom listened intently and at the end, she asked what I wanted to do about this. I replied, "Let's take her shopping." And that's exactly what my mom did (of course, she asked permission from the girl's mom). We drove her to the 163rd Street Mall in Miami, FL. and took her to the trendy stores where my mom spent a little more than $300 on this young lady. She was grateful and I was overjoyed. In hindsight, my mom was not in a financial position to do this, but she did it anyway. She picked up extra shifts to pay off her credit card balance and she never murmured or complained. Why am I sharing this story with you? Because, that story is the catalyst that fuels my prayer requests. If my mom responded by honoring my request to help a stranger when she could hardly afford it - I mean she was struggling to make the ends meet, what does that say about God the Creator of the Universe, God of Comfort, & Father of Compassion (2 Corinthians 1:3) who owns cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10). If my mom did it broke, I am confident that my Abba is able to do that and them some. He is God, and He cares about every detail of our lives. With that said, I go boldly to my Abba because He loves us and wants to answer our prayers. Don't get it twisted, not every prayer get's answered the way that I desire them to, but He does respond and answers them all according to His will.
Approximately a year ago, the Lord placed it in my heart to create a sign (Need Prayer? Come Here... I want to pray for you) and to hold it high while standing in the courtyard during our morning break at school. There are about 700 + students who visit the courtyard during break. Towards the end of last academic school year, three young men approached me while off duty as they approached me during lunch and not the morning break where I held the sign up. They requested prayer; they shared their request and I listened and immediately thought about the story in Luke 5, where the friends lowered their paralyzed friend through the roof and placed him at the feet of Jesus. They were requesting prayer for their friend who was out sick for more than a week. They were really concerned and missed him being at school. I don't recall the specifics of my prayer, but the young men were so moved by my prayer that they went home to share the details with their families (one of the moms, my co-worker, reached out to me). Guess what?! My prayer was powerful and effective as the student returned back to school the very next day totally healed!! Praise the Lord.
Fast forward to about two weeks ago when I went to get one of my students from his seventh period study hall. On my way to pick him up, I made a quick stop at our Better Bean Café to purchase three bags of Cheetos Hot Fries, Nutella with breadsticks, and a pressed juice (hey, we listen, but don't judge). I ripped open one bag of hot fries and ate some en-route to pick up the student. When I walked into the room, more than half the class said "that's the lady, let her pray for your niece." They had a substitute teacher who just found out bad news regarding his niece's health. The students insisted, so I prayed. One of the students happened to be one of the three young men who approached me last year to pray over his sick friend. He kept saying "She has the good stuff." Then I thought I heard him say "She has hot fries" but that another young man said it, so I asked him to open his hands and I began pouring hot fries in his hands. He was so confused that he asked while looking in his hands "what's this?!" I reminded him of what he said to me "She has the good stuff." He said "I am not talking about this, ma'am, I am talking about your prayers." Immediately, that became the fuel I needed to pray over the niece of the substitute teacher. Every word of that prayer penetrated my innermost core and pierced my soul. I am one hundred percent sure that his response elevated my prayer life and increased the notch for my prayers being powerful and effective. And, now without a shadow of doubt, I am holding the good stuff that deserves to be shared with others (and no, I am not referring to the hot fries.)
So, what's in your hands? Are you sharing "the good stuff - you're prayers?" Do you believe in the power of prayer and praying boldly?
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