Prayer is Powerful.

The power of prayer--  I know I've posted about this before but I believe we can't be reminded enough of the POWER of our prayers.  There are so many Bible verses that reference prayer and praying. 

I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.  And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.  And since we know he hears our request, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.  1 John 5:13-15  

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7

Are any of you suffering hardships?  You should pray.  Are any of you happy?  You should sing praises.  Are any of you sick?  You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with the oil in the name of the Lord.  Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well.  And if you have committed sins, you will be forgiven.   Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.   James 5:13-16

We were given this hope when we were saved.  (If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it.  But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)  And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groans that cannot be expressed in words.  Romans 8:24-26

Always be joyful.  Never stop praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

How exciting and empowering for me to know that I can pray and know our God is listening to each and every prayer.  Big or little.  Important or not so important.  God wants to hear our prayers.  I encourage you to pray.  Share with God what's on your heart, tell Him what's going on. 

Chris and I have a prayer journal that sits on our coffee table.  We write each and every prayer request in there and continually pray over them.  It is so neat to see how God works and answers our prayers! 

I had the opportunity to go on a ladies retreat a few weekends ago-- what a blessing.  A weekend at the beach with my sisters in Christ.  One thing I learned when I was there was NOT to under-estimate our God.  He can do anything.  Who am I, with little faith, to under-estimate his mighty power.  Chris and I continue to pray for my Nana.  I told her a few days ago we are praying for complete healing of her femur.  I think she was a little surprised when we said that but we believe our God is mighty and powerful and can do anything-- including completely healing Nana's femur.    Please join us in lifting my Nana in prayer.  The road to recovery has been much longer than she expected but we pray she would be lifted up and completely healed.  The best part?  We get to go visit her this week!  We are so excited and can't wait to get there =)