All Sermons
A Simple Prayer
The Power of Prayer
This morning, we did something a little different than we normally do for a Sunday. We prayed. And by prayed I mean we devoted most of our time together to prayer. There is power in prayer.
Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s the sicknesses and illnesses experienced by so many right now, maybe it’s the state of our country, maybe it’s… I don’t know what it is, but I do know there’s somewhere and Someone we can turn to. There is power in prayer.
When we came to Woodsfield and started working with this congregation, one of the first things I noticed was how prayerful this church is. Everything gets prayed for. I’ve thought a lot about the culture of prayer here and I believe it says something about us: we know that prayer makes a difference. There is power in prayer.
There’s a verse in James that sits at the end of the letter: “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16b) James goes on to give the example of Elijah—a righteous man—who prayed for it to stop raining and it did. Then, he prayed for it to start raining and it did. There is power in prayer.
I believe with all my heart that when righteous people pray, God opens the doors of heaven to hear. Time and time again in Scripture there are examples of God listening to His people as they prayed and changing events and history because of it. We don’t always get exactly what we ask for, but we know that God hears us when we pray, and that our prayers make a difference. There is power in prayer.
-Scott McFarland
