The Power of Prayer

By Gobel Brockman


     I Timothy 2:1 - "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior."

In this verse of Scripture we find some interesting things about prayer. Prayer is - rather, it must be - an integral part of our Christian lives. But there is so much more to prayer than simply asking God for stuff and asking Him to bless our meals. Searching some word definitions in the original Greek (via Strong's Concordance) gives us some interesting perspective:

Supplications: "need, want, penury (poverty or desperation)"
The idea here isn't that we have to come to God as beggars. As someone once said, "We don't pray as beggars, we pray as the bride." In fact, Hebrews 4:16 tells us that "We can come boldly before the throne of grace." The idea of desperation here is more about recognizing the desperation of the situation. In context the verse above is speaking about praying for our leaders, and I think we all can agree that these are indeed desperate times that require God's intervention. But it also applies to each of our everyday lives. We find ourselves from time to time in desperate situations, and in those times we need to know how and where to go for help.

Prayers: "prayer addressed to God"
Pretty self-explanatory, but it's a good reminder of who our prayers are directed to - GOD. When we pray, we are addressing the very God who created all things with nothing but His command. When we realize that there is nothing in our lives that catches God by surprise, we can come with full assurance that He is more than able to help in our time of need.

Intercessions: "to fall in with or upon; an interview or conference"
There are two points I want to make on this:

1) When we think in terms of "falling in with or upon" we see an excellent example of this is Mark 5. A man named Jarius had a daughter who was sick to the point of death. The Bible says that Jarius "fell at his (Jesus) feet and begged Him..." Here we see both supplication (desperation) and intercession (to fall upon). Intercession is more than simply saying, "Father, I come in the name of Jesus." It is a willingness to step out and in essence "stop Him in His tracks." This man was willing to put his own needs and comfort aside to ask Jesus to help his daughter. He was also willing to stop Jesus on His journey, humble himself before Him and admit the situation was hopeless unless He intervened.

2) When we think in terms of "an interview or conference" we need to remind ourselves that part of an interview is LISTENING. The story of Jarius goes on to say that while they were going to his house, his servants came and told him, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Master any further?" The Bible says that when Jesus heard that he told Jarius, "Don't be afraid, only believe." In desperate times it's very easy to listen to the voice of circumstance instead of the voice of faith. May we remember to listen to the right voice.

As I mentioned earlier, we are definitely living in difficult times. We need the grace and power that is found in the name of Jesus now more than ever. Fortunately for us, He invites all who surrender to Him to come before him in supplication, prayer, and intercession.

Prayer warriors, the time to rise up is now!