By Pastor Doug Kelley
pastordougkelley@aim.com
Every believer is called by God to engage in three specific ministries: up-reach, in-reach and out-reach. Up–reach is God’s call to pray without ceasing. In-reach is God’s call to hospitality and fellowship. And out-reach is God’s call to do the work of an evangelist. In this article, I want to discuss how YOU CAN CHANGE HISTORY by praying.
God’s house is called to be a House of PRAYER by Jesus (Matthew 21:13). Prayer is nothing more than a conversation with God. It involves both speaking and listening. Oswald Chambers says, “Prayer is perfect and complete oneness with God.” The great prayer warrior William Carey says, “Prayer- secret, fervent, believing prayer – lies at the root of all personal Godliness.”
“TO PRAY IS TO CHANGE,” says well known Christian author Richard Foster. John Wesley states that “God does nothing but in answer to prayer.”
“Certain things will happen in history if we pray rightly. We are to change the world by prayer,” challenges Foster. Jesus drove out the money changers from the Temple because they had perverted the purpose of His House. His House is to be a place of PRAYER FOR THE NATIONS.
The early disciples understood the significance of prayer and asked Jesus to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1). Many books have been written on the Lord’s prayer. Perhaps the most significant aspect is that we are to pray “thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” I WANT HEAVEN ON EARTH. God says pray for it.
In the Old Testament Moses pleaded with God (Numbers 11:2, 21:7) and God’s people cried out to God for deliverance (Exodus 3:7). They changed history by their prayers. Hezekiah got 15 more years of life when he turned his face to the wall and prayed (Isaiah 37:15) and Hannah cried out in her barrenness and received a baby boy that she named Samuel.
Elijah confronted and defeated the prophets of Baal by prayer (1 Kings 18). Daniel changed history by refusing to stop praying even when he was cast into the lion’s den (Daniel 6:11) and his prayer partners – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – went to the furnace believing and praying (Daniel 3).
Esther prayed, “if I perish, I perish” and then went into the King’s presence to change history (Esther 4:17). Samuel and Solomon both prayed for wisdom. Job prayed and “God turned his captivity” (Job 42:10). God says that “if my people” pray they can change their circumstances (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Jesus is praying right now for you and me (Romans 8:26-27 and Hebrews 7:25). Stephen and Paul prayed and history was changed. If ANY MAN LACKS WISDOM, God tells us to call upon the name of the Lord (James 1:5-8). Change history, pray.
Sometimes nothing seems to happen when we pray, but PRAYER CHANGES US. Read the words of Oswald Chambers.
It is not so true that “prayer changes things” as that prayer changes me and I change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of Redemption alters the way in which a man looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man’s disposition.
It’s time to pray. It’s time to change history. We are a God dependent people who have been called by the Lord to be the salt and light to our world. We do this by prayer. History is changed as we pray in the name of Jesus.