Where does your greatest power come from?

Church Family:
God's power is yours through prayer. God's encouragement is yours through prayer. God's wisdom is yours through prayer. God's purpose is yours through prayer. God's joy is yours through prayer. God's forgiveness is yours through prayer. God's reconciliation is yours through prayer. The list goes on and on. What is the greatest thing that you can do for your spouse, children, neighbor or yourself? Pray for them. Where will your greatest accomplishments come from? Prayer. Your prayers can accomplish anything that God can do. As Nehemiah shows us, when you pray - God works.

Nehemiah's resilient power and uncommon wisdom to continue in the work that God had given him came solely from a persistent prayer life. His prayers, as they are recorded throughout the book of Nehemiah, instruct us today how to pray (1:5-11; 4:4-5; 5:19; 6:9, 14; 9:5-38; 13:14, 22, 29). We can see Nehemiah’s heart as he prays broken over his sin and when he faces threats and hardships. He prayed both short, arrow type prayers shot up to God in a moment of great need and he also prayed longer prayers communicating his praise for the LORD and need for forgiveness and mercy. Nehemiah 9, showcases the longest prayer in the Bible. This prayer looks back at the history of God’s faithfulness toward His unfaithful people. He praises God for His faithfulness, care, grace and mercy, and slowness to anger as God’s people continually disobeyed over and over and over again pursuing false gods. They were living a life of continuous defeat and discouragement as they lived prayerless lives.

If defeat and discouragement is a constant battle in your life, give your life to God through prayer. God’s intention for your life is to be empowered by communicating to Him your needs and failures. God's power, purpose and encouragement is activated in your life through prayer and many times a life of defeat and discouragement is activated through prayerlessness. Church, let us devote our lives again to praying to the One True God who has revealed Himself in His Word and has commanded us to pray. Give Him your misery and rest upon His promise to hear you and empower you in this life (Mat. 6:6-8).

See you Sunday, empowered by prayer: Steve