Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Rainbows, Headlights and the Power of Prayer!

We had to drive into Austin this evening. It's a 30 mile trip each way, straight up I-35, with hundreds of speeding, crazy lunatics behind the wheel of their cars. I hate it! I don't like driving. I don't like driving in Austin. And I really don't like driving in Austin at night in the rain!

But on the way there, my reward for all this misery was the most beautiful, full rainbow opposite a gorgeous sunset! I am always reminded of God's covenant with us when I see a rainbow. God has never forgotten His promise to Noah and the rest of us. God will always keep His promise, too.

Which leads me to today's posting.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about prayer lately.

As a Bible-believing Christian, I fully believe in the power of prayer. From Genesis to Revelation, prayer is a vital part of a God-fearing, God-loving life.

I think 2 Chronicles 30:27 gives one of the best examples of how prayer works:

"The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place."

Revelation 5:8 describes "golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."

And Jesus thought prayer was important enough that he taught us how to pray in Matthew 6:5-15.

When we pray, our prayers reach heaven where God dwells. They are stored in golden bowls and are a pleasing aroma to God.

In my life I've said many prayers! I've prayed for myself, my husband, my marriage, my children, my family, unsaved loved ones, health issues, money issues, job issues, and everything else under the sun. Today, for instance, I prayed for a friend who is newly pregnant and fearful of miscarrying again. I prayed for another friend who did miscarry a few days ago. I prayed for the sister of a friend who broke both her hands and arms in a fall. I prayed for my son to find a job. I prayed for my husband, out driving a truck in the rain.

And you know what? God heard my prayers! No, not every prayer has been answered yet, but that doesn't mean God didn't hear me.

But let me give you an example of an immediate answer to a prayer! It happened tonight, while I was driving home from Austin. Remember, it was dark and rainy by now. I was headed down a very busy, six-lane street, cars were darting in and out. Suddenly a pick-up truck pulled in behind me. I thought something was odd and as I put a little distance between us, I realized what it was. The truck did not have its headlights on! On this dark, rainy night, with traffic all around, that was not a good thing!

Well, I didn't know what to do. We're going down the road at about 40 mph and there's no way to get the driver's attention. Between the darkness and the rain, someone could easily not see this truck and cause an accident. There was only one thing I could do.

Pray!

"Lord," I said. "Please reveal to this driver that his lights aren't on."

Folks, within 10 seconds of my prayer, the truck slowed down and suddenly...BING! It's headlights came on!! God absolutely, without a doubt, revealed to that driver that he was driving without his lights!

Coincidence?

I think not.

The power of prayer?

You bet'cha!

Don't get caught driving in the dark! Let God shine His light on you through the power of prayer!

I think I'm going to stay on the subject of prayer for a few days (weeks?). While I'll still post now and then about my journey through the book of Numbers, I feel lead to stay on the subject of prayer for a while.

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