Prayer that Yields Powerful Results

2 Samuel 24:15,25b So the LORD sent a disease against Israel. It began in the morning and continued until the chosen time to stop. From Dan to Beersheba 70,000 people died … The LORD answered his prayer for the country. He stopped the disease in Israel.

Now I’m no genius, but every now and then, the obvious hits me between the eyes. I wrote a book a while back called, “Unlocking the Power of Prayer”. And as I was doing the research, I began to take a look at this whole subject of prayer in the Bible. What does God’s Word say about prayer? That’s not an unreasonable thing to do, I guess, when you’re embarking on writing a book about prayer.

I looked at the first instance of prayer – Genesis Chapter 20. The second, Genesis 24. The third, Genesis 25. And each time, do you know what I found? The prayers of common, ordinary, everyday people like you and me, each time, they had powerful results.

And the more I looked the more I found exactly the same thing. In fact, the pattern was so obvious, so striking, that I came to this conclusion:

Prayer that yields powerful results is normal in God’s sight

It made me wonder, why do so many people who believe in Jesus have this kind of timid, guilt-ridden, mealy-mouthed attitude toward prayer? Why?

Well, sometimes it’s because we’ve done something wrong, we’ve sinned, and so we feel as though we can’t go to God and ask for His help? Yeah, I’ve been there too. But check this out:

So the LORD sent a disease against Israel. It began in the morning and continued until the chosen time to stop. From Dan to Beersheba 70,000 people died … The LORD answered his prayer for the country. He stopped the disease in Israel. (2 Samuel 24:15,25b)

Here’s what led up to this terrible punishment. King David had sinned against God big time, by taking a census of his fighting forces, rather than trusting in God. There’s a bit more to it than that, but bottom line is that it was an act of pride, so God brought great punishment on Israel, as you can see.

And yet when David prayed, even in this, the most terrible of circumstances, amidst great suffering occasioned by Israel’s behaviour and David’s sin, what happened?

The LORD answered his prayer for the country. He stopped the disease in Israel.

Let me say it again. Prayer that yields powerful results is normal in God’s sight. In fact, that’s the only sort of prayer that the Bible speaks of.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.

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