ASK, SEEK, KNOCK
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
James 5:16 NIV
Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Luke 11:9 NIV
Intercessory prayer is a prayer for somebody other than the person praying. There are many places in Scripture that tell us for whom we should pray. Friends (Job), ministers (Philippians), the sick (James), and enemies (Jeremiah) are among those for whom we should pray. Sometimes God wants to teach us patience when there is no immediate answer to our prayers. Other times, granting our prayer it is not God’s will for us. It is our task to keep praying until God grants the request, changes our heart, or removes the need which caused the request.
The 2015 movie, War Room, highlighted the need for persistent prayer and its rewards. One of the stars of the movie, Karen Abercrombie, played an elderly prayer warrior, Clara Williams. A closet in her home was the war room where she prayed. A few years ago, at the Ocean City Tabernacle, my husband and I heard Ms. Abercrombie’s powerful personal testimony of faith and how she got the movie role at a crossroad point of her career. At the time the movie was released, she said, “The Church seems to have gotten sleepy and comfortable. We need to pray for the state of the world, for the state of the church. We can’t be lukewarm anymore.” Another Christian actress, Priscilla Shirer, played a young wife in the movie who was guided by Ms. Abercrombie’s character. Ms. Shirer was also interviewed at the time of the movie’s release and claimed that “Prayer is the key that God has given us to unlock the door to His Power.”
So, as we scroll through Cornerstone to the prayer list, or hold the paper copy during a Sunday service, it is not a simple one-and-done task. There are 650 prayers in the Bible and 450 answers to prayer. Prayer changes things. Ask persistently, seek tirelessly, and pray until God unlocks the door.
Prayer: Lord, help us to communicate with you regularly. May our entreaties for others honor Your place in our lives. Amen.
Carol Rice
