There is power in prayer

 

Ephesians 3:14-1914 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Good Monday morning to all of you! The sun is hiding, we have thunder boomers, but Praise God! We have life-giving rain! It has been raining for a week here, and I have to admit I'm starting to notice webbing develop between my toes, but rain is really good for my flowers. The water from our hose just isn't giving them the nutrients they need, so their growth has been little and the flowering has been puny, until now. Now they're blooming like crazy!
Really, that wasn't where I wanted to start this this morning, I wanted to start with how prayer is essential in our lives, but now that I look at the paragraph, it looks as if it's going to dovetail nicely. ;)
This morning there are two people who are going into the hospital for procedures. One, on the east coast (of the US) is a young lady who has just graduated, who has had issues and severe pain since the last part of last year, and they are now going to fix the problem surgically. The other is an older man, in his early 80's who is going in to have a procedure done to see if there are any abnormalities within his arterial structure and his heart. He had had a stress test earlier in the month and they detected something they wanted to check out further. He, is in the southwest portion of the States. Both are going in at roughly the same time, and both could use our prayers. 
In I Kings 18, we read how Elijah was instructed to go and build an altar to God, after he had met up with Ahab. He instructed Ahab to bring all of the priests of Baal, and together they would build separate altars, one for Baal, one to God, and the important part of it was, no fire was to be lit under the sacrifices. Whichever sacrifice was consumed by the fire from their god, was the God to be worshipped. The Baals agreed, set up their altar and sacrifice, danced and chanted all day and nothing. Not even a spark. Elijah then instructed them to drench not only the sacrifice, but the he wanted it soaked. Then he prayed to God, and not only did God honor the prayer with fire, but even the water was consumed. That is a powerful prayer!
Hannah, prayed in the temple. She prayed so hard that God would give her a son, but she prayed in her heart, giving Eli the impression that she was intoxicated. When she explained to him that she wasn't, he prayed that God would hear her prayers. He did!
There are so many, many more examples of the power of prayer in the Bible. In James 5:13-15 it says: Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 
So we are commanded to pray for one another! We should pray for the life-giving rain when there is lack. We should pray for provision when there is need. We should pray for healing for the sick...in short, we should pray for everyone, everything, and all the time! Pray without ceasing! (I Thessalonians 5:17)
So, today, I will be praying for my sweet friend's granddaughter, that the surgeons will do all they can to alleviate the pain and correct the problem. I will pray for travelling mercies for all. I will pray for peace and comfort for her family as they wait.I will pray for my dad as the doctors look to see if there are any problems that need to be addressed, and that they will be addressed in a timely fashion. I will pray for travelling mercies for he and mom and they travel an hour and a half to the hospital where the procedure will be done. In both cases, I pray for wisdom for the doctors, and the knowledge to put that wisdom into action in the healing of their patients. 
Today, I ask you all to join me in prayer. Not just for these two, but for others, all around this globe. With all that's going on in our lives right now, there is an abundance of needs out there that we all can pray to God for. The COVID crisis, especially in India right now where it's frighteningly out of control, the peace in the Middle East, the oil issues, your neighbors, your government, your city or town, your church and pastor/priest, the list goes on and on. Be a people of prayer, and watch God move in a mighty, mighty way.
Stay dry, stay safe, and stay in prayer my friends.