Prayer Changes Life

In 1996, Stacey and I were in northern Cambodia. The country grappled with the devastation of Pol Pot’s regime, as the Khmer Rouge continued to ravage and kill the Khmer people. Even as we arrived to share the gospel and deliver vital medications within one remote village, the sound of explosions close by reverberated and the smell of burning permeated the air.

As we began to share the gospel, there was a great deal of interest. Even as a resident from the nearby village warned us to leave because the Khmer Rouge was burning his village only a mile away, a general in the Khmer Army received the gospel with excitement. He did not flinch knowing the Khmer Rouge was nearby–a daily reality for them–and remained steadfast in encouraging us to share the gospel story with his men. As we shared, our concerned fear sat in contrast to the villagers’ excitement and strength in attentiveness surrounding our dialogue. They wanted the gospel. We could hear Khmer Rouge radio chatter from the nearby village, and yet many in the village in which we sat received Christ that day as their Lord and Savior. The Khmer Rouge never appeared. If they had, we would surely have died; as westerners, there was a $500 bounty (over a year’s wage) on our heads in that year.

It was only when we arrived home several weeks later that we learned a group of our friends in our church, along with others around the country, were awakened that night to pray for us (they were twelve hours behind us). They had prayed for protection and for the reception of the gospel in the Khmer village. They had no idea of the dangers we had nearly met that day. All the way around the globe in a jungle village, God’s hand of protection was experienced, and a Khmer village received entrance into the Kingdom of God along with all His promises in Jesus Christ.      
 
Have you met difficult times in your life when all of a sudden rays of bright eternal hope shine in, and you become unbroken in your sufferings and difficulties, able to boldly push on? Do you stop and savor the gift of someone’s prayers on your behalf? How much of your daily life is being shaped by the prayers of others? How much of your eternity has been shaped by the prayers of others? Who prayed for your salvation? Who prayed for you to come out of the darkness of pursuing the world, so you could receive the gift of eternal light in Christ? Who is lifting you up in prayer today as you endure life's challenges?  
   
But wait, also ask yourself how much are you shaping the lives of others for eternity as you intercede for them in prayer? Who is on your list of those you are bringing before Jesus, who is at the right hand of God, excited to receive your intercession? Look at Jesus as your example of intercession: He always prayed for others, even on the cross saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Even today, right now, Christ continues as the great intercessor in heaven, praying for all who have come to the Father through faith in Christ (Rom. 8:34). Are you knocking at Christ’s door for the benefit of other’s or just your own advantage?

As John closes his letter, he calls us to watch out for each other as Christians. If we see one another sinning, we are to first intercede for our brother or sister, asking God to stop them from pursuing darkness. Then from that prayer God promises to intervene in that believer’s life and bring that believer back into the light of living life in the light of Christ (1 John 5:16-21). As Christians, one way we prove our love to Christ, and to His church, is by interceding for each other. We have been told throughout 1 John, that “we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brothers.” Prayer is the least that we can do for each other. If we are disobedient in prayer for each other, then we will most likely fail in meeting other needs as well. Can you be loving your brothers and sisters in Christ if you are not actively praying for them and their needs?

Mothers and fathers, lift your sons and daughters before God! Church, which brother or sister in Christ do you see pursuing sin that needs to be awakened to sin’s destruction? What neighbors have been placed near your home for you to rejoice with, and weep with, and lift up in prayer that they would be responsive to the gospel of hope that you share in word and deed? What missionaries are in dark places that need us to strengthen their work and open doors for the gospel? Pray knowing that your prayers are effective in changing lives and circumstances.

See you Sunday, praying for God to change us into the image of Christ: Steve