“The prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective.”~High Priest

What does a prayer of faith sound like?

Jason Maroney

Ya know, I always discounted the Lord’s Prayer as simple and even childish but it is not for the weak. It is the prayer of a disciple ready to be used by God for His purposes and to give up his personal rights and fears. “Do not be excited that demons obey you, but that your Father in heaven hears you.”

In the long run, whether you had gotten kicked in that cell or not, made no difference, physically in your life, but through it your faith was increased. People die of illness and others lose their jobs, “power prayers” are always so focused on the temporal, the here and now.

Our kingdom, not God’s kingdom. what does it matter if a man’s illness is cured but he goes on to lose his faith? Pray for what you desire, but our trials come for a reason, if being freed from them brings glory to God, then He will do so. If our faithfulness in the midst of suffering furthers His kingdom, then let it be so.

p.s. God’s providence does include Advil

You run head first into enough brick walls… actually, my wife’s brother, Ryan, recently died from cancer at 28 years old. He was a believer and he loved people in amazing ways.

We had prayed and prayed for years. Some well meaning “Christians” came in to visit him. they had his mom watch a Hagee video on how if God doesn’t heal you, it’s because you didn’t pray earnestly and with enough faith. So these women of “real faith” were there to show how it was done. They were convinced if they said “their” prayer the right way, with the right amount of faith, the genie in the bottle would bow to their commands and Ryan would be healed.
John Stevens

I have been suffering from neuro-pathic pain in my head for several months now, probably caused by an abscess that got into a nerve. The pain has been excruciating at times, but I am on medication now that seems to be slowly working the pain levels down.

I prayed for God to heal it, but he hasn’t. I’m still praying, but have also reached the “Gods will be done” place. I don’t like the pain, but I know that God is still on his throne & he is working all things for good.

My response…

John. It seems we walk a similar path. I have a cyst in my head. My head hurts like hell when I’m not on my med. The doc says the cyst is not the problem. My head still hurts…. I’m OK with that. I use it as a reminder of God’s sovereignty. As creator, He has the right to do what He likes and when He likes it. The good news is God’s unmeasurable love. What He chooses to do is good. Real good.

Jason. I figured your wisdom came from living through a lengthy suffering experience. Some of God’s richest blessings on my life have been in the midst of suffering. Was it Paul, who said to count it all as gain. I figure he had paid the price to talk…

As to the global issue of prayer, I know it to be deeply personal to me. As my walk deepens, do does my prayer. I hope one day to experience prayer in my life without ceasing. Likely, most of the day will be living life in thoughtful thankful recognition of God’s love.

It is my hope I never am required to pray with such intensity that I sweat drops of blood. But who knows what the future holds. We are to be obedient and God promises that the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective. I can bank on that and do…