the power of effective prayer

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
- Psalm 139:13-14
Today's passage is from the New International Version of the Bible


Today’s devotional: the power of effective prayer
May 13th, 2010
What does effective prayer look like in practice? There’s no “magic formula” that will cause a prayer to be answered in the exact way you want, but the Bible does illustrate that the attitude with which we approach prayer is important. In this devotional from Back to the Bible, Woodrow Kroll looks at one of the most remarkable examples of an effective prayer: King Hezekiah’s plea for help in the face of almost impossibly grim circumstances.

What was so effective about Hezekiah’s prayer? Kroll identifies seven key elements of the prayer. Here are the first three:

1. His prayer was instinctively spontaneous (verse 14). When Hezekiah received the threatening letter, he immediately spread it before the Lord. There was no thought of calling a committee or seeking the advice of others; Hezekiah knew what to do, as did Elisha (2 Kings 4:33) and Nehemiah (Nehemiah 2:4) in similar situations.

2. His prayer was praisefully reverent (verse 15). He addressed Jehovah as, “O LORD God of Israel which dwellest between the cherubims, Thou art the God, even Thou alone.” The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9) indicates the same kind of reverence.

3. His prayer was intimately personal (verse 16). After he addressed God in a reverent fashion, Hezekiah said, “LORD, bow down Thine ear and hear.” He had recognized God as sovereign; now he addresses Him as friend.

Read the rest of the devotional for all seven characteristics of Hezekiah’s prayer.

Think about the last time you prayed about something. If you were to examine the words and attitude behind that prayer, would it resemble Hezekiah’s in humility and sincerity? When have you felt that your prayers were truly effective?

Today’s Devotional: Lay People Unite!
May 12th, 2010
Part of being a member of the Body of Christ is recognizing that each person has valuable gifts and abilities to offer, and even though we might try, we can’t just rely on one or two people to carry the church.

It can be easy for lay people to assume that the pastoral staff has it all under control—after all, they’re “professionals!” However, as we read in this devotional from Our Daily Bread, it’s impossible for church leaders to carry the burden of the church by themselves:

The “professionals,” the pastor and others who are trained to lead the church, face a task they can’t do alone. It’s often a struggle to get the work of the church done until laypeople join in and work alongside the leadership.

This was the situation in Acts 6. Some people in the church were being neglected, and the “professionals,” the apostles who were leading the church, realized they couldn’t do everything by themselves. Only when seven laypeople pitched in to help the leaders could the church proceed.

How can you come alongside your pastor and other leaders to help keep your church moving ahead?

Read the rest at odb.org.