0064. Prayer the Source of Power

Prayer the Source of Power

"When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly" (Mat_6:6).

When we ask, God acts. In the closet alone with God, we pray, in the public God rewards us with power as we serve.

If we would get behind every great victory in the realm of evangelism or in the realm of missions, or of any truly great victory for God, we would find that prayer had played its part.

Illustration: We are reminded how Dr. Dixon once, in an evangelistic campaign, saw a blacksmith arise in his audience. The blacksmith said, "Dr. Dixon, I believe that we should pray to God for the salvation of twenty-five souls to-night, and I want to lead the prayer." That night, twenty-five souls made profession of faith.

The next day, the same blacksmith arose and said, "Dr. Dixon, I believe that we should ask God for fifty souls to-night, and I want to lead the prayer." That night, fifty souls were saved. Not forty-nine or fifty-one, but fifty.

Dr. Dixon said he wondered the next day what the blacksmith brother would do, but there seemed to be no more of the burden of prayer upon him, and that night only three or four were saved, and so on until the meetings closed.

When Joash was commanded of Elijah to shoot with bow and arrows, he smote the ground but three times. The Prophet was greatly displeased and he said, "Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice" (2Ki_13:19).

If we want God to do great things through us and carry out His purposes to the full, we must not faint in prayer.

It was when they prayed, that the house was shaken, and God’s power filled the room.

It was when they had prayed that the jail doors flew open and the angel led Peter forth.

It was when Paul and Silas prayed that the jailer came trembling and astonished and sought the Lord (Act_16:25-31).

Then let us pray, and make our stay,

Upon the greatness of the Lord;

He’ll surely move, His power prove,

And magnify His precious Word.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR