Prayer: God's chosen vehicle for unleashing his power in the world!

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In these pages you will find many opportunities for prayer. We are delighted that you have come to this page, and hope that you will do more than simply read, but will actually pray for the people, ministries and issues that you find here. Too often, Christians gather great amounts of information, but never actual get down to the most important business of all - prayer.

Many people today are searching for significance. They look at their lives and don't seem to see much impact on the world. We often feel powerless to affect real change in the world or even the people around us. But God has given us a tool with which we can literally impact any part of the world. We can affect people's lives and see real change and powerful effects. That tool is prayer.

And what is prayer? Simply put, it is opening a channel between heaven and earth, based on our personal relationship with Christ, through which God chooses to release his power.

Please remember as you pray that it is not your holiness or your eloquence that will make the prayer effective. Only God's grace can make prayer bear fruit. Any other view is prideful and idolatrous. As you pray, trust in God to answer in the right time and the right way. We cannot force God to act in a way that is inconsistent with his character. We should trust his love, power and wisdom. His love leads him to want the best for us and the world. His power allows him to carry out whatever he desires. His wisdom is such that he actually knows what is best.

So, why pray if God is going to do what he already knows is best? The easy answer is "because God tells us to". But the deeper answer is that our prayers actually influence how God will act. Not that we can force God to act against his character, but God in his grace allows us to influence which course he will take in certain circumstances. Sometimes in life, God could take one of a number of paths of action and remain true to himself. In these times, God allows our prayers to make the difference. God does this for the same reason that he gives us the task of spreading his gospel to all people. It may seem crazy, but God actually has decided to allow us to be his representatives on earth, for good or bad. And as much as we can make a difference through physical action, in many cases we can make an even greater difference through our action on the spiritual level through prayer. In fact, unless we begin our work on the level of prayer, our physical action will bear little fruit for God's Kingdom.

Therefore, we offer you these opportunities for prayer, knowing that as you pray, God will answer, and that the grace and truth of Jesus Christ will be advanced. This is true no matter what the object of our prayers, whether it concerns missions, evangelism, healing, relationships, politics, education, worship, work or any other sphere of life.

May God bless you as you seek to be a blessing to the world he created, loves and died for.

Rev. Jerry Cooper

See also this Sermon on Prayer, Prayer - Entering the Heart of God, Prayer (centinel article) and Prayer (N&V article).