The Power Of Prayer

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, it’s the 13th of April, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” 
James 5:16

The power of prayer! No one knew that more than the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane? He asked the disciples to pray with Him and they went to sleep. Remember, He asked them three times? We thank God for the power of the prayer of faith, not just prayer. God doesn’t answer prayer, He answers the prayer of faith. We need to believe what we are praying for.  

I want to thank God this morning for our intercessors. What is an intercessor? An intercessor is someone who stands in the gap between you and me and our Heavenly Father. Jesus, Himself, is an intercessor today in Heaven. He is interceding on our behalf and it is a very, very important office in the Christian faith - standing in the gap for one another. You know people often ask me, “What can we do for you?” and I always reply, “Please pray”. It is nothing else that I need, it’s prayer because the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man or woman avails much. I won’t even go on an invitation to another country, even if they have organised a massive event - if they have the stadium organised, the music team, they have got a beautiful sound system up, they have the lights up and the platform, and I ask them, “And how is the prayer going?” And they say, “No, well we haven’t started that yet. We will get to that", and I say, “Well, don’t invite me. I am not coming.” It's a waste of time. It is prayer that moves the Hand of God.

I want to say to you that prayer in the church is like an engine in an ocean-going ship. If there is no engine, the ship is going nowhere. You can be standing on the bridge, and the people can be enjoying themselves on top but if the engineers are not doing their job, that ship is in big trouble. When the engine stops the ship is vulnerable. We need to pray. We need to pray continually. We have over 3,000 people that are praying for Shalom Ministries right around the world. I have got a personal intercessor and this man is also one of my spiritual sons and he is praying 24/7. We thank God for his life. It is a thankless job in terms of the world, but the intercessor’s reward is still coming when he gets to Heaven.

Today, remember, the intercessors are a vital part of the work of God.  

Have a wonderful day,
Jesus bless you and goodbye.