Five hardened scientists listened to a dying woman pray. They were using a device to register what happens in the human brain at death. The instrument had a scale of 500 on the left side (negative) and 500 on the right side (positive). In a previous experience, the instrument had measured 9 points on the positive side when connected with a 50 kilowatt broadcast station.
As the dying woman asked God to bless those who had wronged her, reaffirmed her faith in God and expressed her love to Him, these scientists began to weep. They forgot the experiment until they heard the needle hitting the right side of the instrument which meant a measurement of 500 on the positive side! The effect of this experiment was so great that one of the scientists, Dr. Stowell, gave up his brilliant career as a scientist and engaged in witnessing to the goodness and greatness of God. There are unlimited possibilities in the power of prayer.
What is prayer? Prayer is listening; it is conversation; it is communion; it is adoration. In the Old Testament there were various meanings for prayer – “To seek, to caress, to ask favor, to whisper as in secret speech, to meditate, to commune, and even to complain; a fervent and earnest expression which ascends like incense before God.”
Prayer secures the salvation of the lost (Acts 16:31). It will give divine guidance (Prov. 3:5). It will send forth laborers into the harvest (Mat. 9:38). It will anticipate and prevent tragedy (Matt. 6:13). It gives power over demons (Matt. 17:21). It will provide financial security (Phil. 4:19). It will bring healing and deliverance (James 5:15). Prayer will bring relief from the nagging burdens of life (Matt. 6:25 & 33, I Pet. 5:7).
Prayer must not be based on flesh or emotion, that is praying only when we have extra time available or when our emotions draw us to pray. The will must be involved. Prayer shows that we have a “searching instinct,” which means that prayer really works. It is like our Creator giving us the power of thirst but also the water to satisfy that thirst.
E. Stanley Jones stated, “In prayer you align yourself to the purpose and power of God and He is able to do things through you that he would not do otherwise. This is an open universe where some things are left open, contingent on our doing them. If we do not do them, they will never be done. God has left certain things open to prayer, things which will never be done except as we pray.”
As the dying woman asked God to bless those who had wronged her, reaffirmed her faith in God and expressed her love to Him, these scientists began to weep. They forgot the experiment until they heard the needle hitting the right side of the instrument which meant a measurement of 500 on the positive side! The effect of this experiment was so great that one of the scientists, Dr. Stowell, gave up his brilliant career as a scientist and engaged in witnessing to the goodness and greatness of God. There are unlimited possibilities in the power of prayer.
What is prayer? Prayer is listening; it is conversation; it is communion; it is adoration. In the Old Testament there were various meanings for prayer – “To seek, to caress, to ask favor, to whisper as in secret speech, to meditate, to commune, and even to complain; a fervent and earnest expression which ascends like incense before God.”
Prayer secures the salvation of the lost (Acts 16:31). It will give divine guidance (Prov. 3:5). It will send forth laborers into the harvest (Mat. 9:38). It will anticipate and prevent tragedy (Matt. 6:13). It gives power over demons (Matt. 17:21). It will provide financial security (Phil. 4:19). It will bring healing and deliverance (James 5:15). Prayer will bring relief from the nagging burdens of life (Matt. 6:25 & 33, I Pet. 5:7).
Prayer must not be based on flesh or emotion, that is praying only when we have extra time available or when our emotions draw us to pray. The will must be involved. Prayer shows that we have a “searching instinct,” which means that prayer really works. It is like our Creator giving us the power of thirst but also the water to satisfy that thirst.
E. Stanley Jones stated, “In prayer you align yourself to the purpose and power of God and He is able to do things through you that he would not do otherwise. This is an open universe where some things are left open, contingent on our doing them. If we do not do them, they will never be done. God has left certain things open to prayer, things which will never be done except as we pray.”