The Power of Prayer

Posted on June 29, 2024 by

45 Comments

There are times in life when we hit some really difficult challenges. We feel overwhelmed and helpless. But no matter what we are facing, we always have prayer. And I believe prayer is our strongest weapon. The Almighty God of the Universe hears every word we pray. And He is bigger than any mountain we face.

Jesus urged us to keep praying and never give up (see Luke 18:1-8). So that alone should encourage us to keep praying. It helps us to know that God really is listening.

And when we have seen prayer alter situations, it motivates us to pray even more. Even other people’s answered prayers can inspire us.

For example, many years ago two missionaries, who were also husband and wife, spoke in front of our church. They talked about how little they had when they were on mission trips. But they also talked about how God provided for them. One night they prayed for soap because they didn’t even have a bar of soap to bathe with. The next morning they discovered a bar of soap where they were staying. It had teeth marks in it and it appeared as though God had used a rat to transport it for them. When I heard them tell that story, it left an impact on me. This is a good reminder of how powerful prayer is and how much God wants to help us with our needs. (Some of you might recall me sharing this story before.)

I would like to share another powerful prayer story with you. In his book, “The Spirit-Filled Life,” Dr. Charles Stanley tells about a time when he and “In Touch” ministry faced a challenge. They had a deadline and needed to relocate from the building they were occupying. They found a building that was promising, but it had a hefty price tag – $2.7 million. They thought about borrowing the money, but didn’t want to get into debt. The board members had a difficult time in agreeing on the best route.

So, Charles Stanley and the board members decided to stay at some cabins in a nearby state park and pray for several days. During that time, they did get some helpful news. The owner of the new property agreed to lower the price to $2 million. But they continued praying.

When they were leaving the state park, they weren’t sure what it was, but they believed God had a plan worked out. When he got home, Charles Stanley had a message from a man he never met. When he returned the call, the man said, “Dr. Stanley, I have had you and your ministry on my mind the past several days. I notice that you never ask for money on the broadcast, and I was wondering if you had any needs.”

Charles Stanley wrote that he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He told the man about the situation they were in. The man asked how much the building cost. When Charles Stanley gave the price of $2 million, the man said, “I think I can handle that!”

(I tried to summarize this story a bit. But the full story can be found in The Spirit-Filled Life © 2014 by Charles F. Stanley)

What a powerful story that is. This shows us how vital it is to pray about the things we face. And it shows how God really cares about every thing we go through – big or small.

I have seen prayers answered many times in my own life. Times when God protected me or my family. Times when God provided wisdom or guidance. Times when God brought comfort to family members who were sick or dealing with fear. Times when God put a shield over us in the midst of severe weather. Even times when God changed hearts in a way only He could.

Sometimes we might be so overwhelmed by our circumstances that we don’t know what to pray or how to pray. The good news is that the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us (Romans 8:26) and Jesus intercedes for us (Romans 8:34). How comforting that is! Sometimes, our only thoughts are “Jesus, please help.” But that’s okay, because He understands. And He is helping. He is working on our behalf, even when we can’t see it.

Do you have any powerful prayer stories? I’d love to hear them.

Please continue to pray for my family. Thank you so much. We appreciate it more than you know.

God bless you all!

© 2018-2024 Bridget A. Thomas. All rights reserved.

Category: Seeking God

45 Comments on “The Power of Prayer”

  1. Sister Bridget: I’m glad you mentioned about how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us – when we can’t find the strength to pray ourselves. The prayers of others on our behalf can also help us at such times. I found myself in this position last week, when my wife ended up in the hospital for two days with breathing difficulties. I was so scared I couldbarely pray, but others from my church and job were praying for us. I was home at night by myself, babysitting our geriatric dog, and in tears—because my wife was up at the hospital. Just then, she texted me: during a breathing treatment, her blood oxygen had come up to 100%! That’s when the Holy Spirit broke through. It was the moment when God said “Everything’s gonna be all right. “
    Sorry to write a second post here, but you asked, sister! God is faithful. 🤗

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    • Don’t be sorry, I’m really glad you shared that. I’m sorry to hear what you both went through. But I’m glad your wife is doing better. And I love hearing the way God worked in this situation. Even when you didn’t have the words, He heard your heart. He deserves our praises! Thank you for sharing that, David! 🙏♥️🙌

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  2. SO many answered prayers………I’ll stick to the last 5 notable ones

    1. Starting our global radio ministry knowing we couldn’t make it to the end of month 1 [1 month before we even launched!]

    10 months on and we’re still broadcasting and growing – by God’s grace and kindness (and certainly not my cleverness!)

    2. Needing money to tax the car we were gifted (joys of British road traffic law!), to replace the car we have which is legal to drive, but not good on journeys as it cuts out randomly…like in the midddle lane of a three lane 70 MPH motorway (freeway)

    £500 appeared in our bank “to get the car up and running” so we’ve applied for that with the government…again…after we finally prayed for that amount

    [That is a LONG running saga that’ll be in a book!!]

    3. Friendly staff at my scheduled pre-heart-surgery-appointment yesterday

    And, more importantly, they got blood from my arm on their first attempt…my veins REALLY like protecting their precious cargo and I usually have 8-10 properly serious bruises from their badly failed attempts.

    4. No working car since end March 2024, so we’ve been hiring cars for multiple festivals we’ve attended as a Radio Station – so far we’ve actually not paid a penny in real terms (partially because we don’t have many pennies!!) as we keep getting gifted the money for those car hires.

    5. Didn’t have a big enough tent for our most recent festival [that we attended as a radio station] but someone – at a previous festival, and who we didn’t know – told me they wanted to loan us their tent, and that they lived just 15 mins from that festival!

    Ok, let’s keep going with the power of prayer…

    6. Eviction served; house to rent found – but they wanted a guarantor of personal income exceeding £55,000/year…that’s unheard of!! I didn’t know anyone who earned that much money and you’re never asked for something like that over here in the UK…but they did…

    Next day someone I don’t know offered to be that guarantor (meaning they’d be liable for all our future rent for 12 months if we ever failed to pay it)

    7. Same house move – no deposit for the new home, or funds for moving vans etc…pulled up to have a look at the house [we now live in] and someone called….precisely as we stopped outside the house – [just to show it to the family members who hadn’t yet seen it] to offer us £2,000 which they hadn’t yet paid out as their tithe…covering both our deposit and the costs of hiring a van to move our furniture

    All the above are answers to prayer

    It’s a long comment!

    No apologies from me as I’ve missed my wordpress family, and you did ask…and the above really all are evidence of God’s goodness and specific answers to prayer

    Andy B 😁

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    • Wow! So many blessings and miracles. God is amazing and He comes through when we put our trust in Him. I think you should document all they ways God has come through for your ministry and family in a book. It’s so encouraging to hear. Prayers for your upcoming heart surgery. 🙏 And you made me smile with the “No apologies from me” comment. I’m really thankful you shared all that, Andy. God is good! 🙌

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      • The book is in hand

        It be about the first year of running a radio station ; too many things need a chapter on their own!!!

        Liked by 1 person

      • Thanks for the prayers…hit me hard I’m gonna have a surgeon messing about with a tube inside my heart while I’m conscious

        I know they’re skilled……but it’s still wiggling a tube to the right bit of my heart to fix it 😂

        Liked by 1 person

      • I can understand your worry. Earlier this year I had eye surgery. I was given anesthesia, but it was the kind where I was still awake. I was scared that I was messing everything up and I remember telling the doctor that I thought I was moving my eye around. And he laughed and said no, he was moving my eye. I will be praying that all goes well with your heart surgery! 🙏🙏🙏

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      • They told me to keep chattering away – it’s important to keep my heart beating normally

        My family really does wonder if they know what they’re asking and letting themselves in for ….since my day job is chattering for 3 hours at a time on my radio show 🤣

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  3. God loves it when we come to Him first; when we know He loves us and invites us to climb into our Abba’s lap and tell Him about every little thing.

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  4. I too often try to give my life to God and end up taking it back, trying to take control. Repenting, and giving it all back to God. I’m improving. Prayer for you and your family continue. Interestingly enough, it’s easier to pray for others than myself, perhaps because I wonder if I’m asking rightly for myself. Even so, God is faithful and answered countless prayers, big and small.

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  5. Bridget, I was having a couple of melancholy days thinking of certain things that are going to change for me. This was brining me down. Your words spoke straight to my heart. It was a wonderful reminder to keep taking every thought, uncertainty and worry to Jesus.
    Keeping you and your family in prayer 🙏🏽
    God bless you my friend 💙

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    • I’m sorry you were having some melancholy days. But I’m glad this post brought you some encouragement. We can cast all of our worries on Jesus, because He loves us and cares about the things we are dealing with. I’m praying for you! And thank you for your prayers. Every prayer is very much appreciated. God bless you too ♥️

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  7. Thanks Bridget for sharing these stories about the power of prayer. God is faithful to hear and answer. I’ve been asking Him to decrease my fears and increase my faith. We never know what specific things He can do in our lives if we don’t ask. I will keep you and your family in prayer. 🙏🏿❤️

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    • I’m so thankful we can turn to God, no matter what we are facing. And you make such a great point – “We never know what specific things He can do in our lives if we don’t ask.” Thank you for that reminder. And thank you so much for your prayers. I am keeping you in my prayers too, my friend! 🙏♥️

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    • Lol. “$2M and rat teeth on soap.” – that made me laugh. These stories impacted me as well. Thank you for stopping by, Crystal 💕

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  9. Wonderful post! God does hear our every prayer. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. (Thessalonians 5:16-17) I love the verse, “God is a very present help in time of trouble.”(Psalm 46:1) This means that God is always close to us in the midst of every circumstance. We are so blessed with the love of our Heavenly Father!

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  10. I prayed so with heart and soul when I was waiting my turn to go into surgery to remove cataracts. I asked GOD, please LORD, let me know you are near. And just then, here comes the nurse to check on me with a wrap around her head that in big letters said “GOD”. I was speechless!

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  11. My pastor-husband was being assigned to a new church and we’d need three cars–one for him, one for me to get to the school where I taught, and one for our son to get to his school and work. At the time we only needed two–one or the other of them would drop me off and pick me up at my school just 4 min. away. Now I’d be 1/2 hour away. / A woman from the church we were leaving called my husband, S., asking about a recommendation for a car. S thought she was probably buying one for her grandson, graduating from high school. But no, it was for US!! NEVER did I expect (or pray for) a brand new car to fulfill our need!

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  12. Great post with powerful truth tucked in it. It made me think of the phrase that calls our Christian walk, Three steps forward and two steps back. It’s hard to be in the two steps back for you usually feel it thought out your body. But the sweetness of those three step forward could not be enjoyed without the two steps back. Blessings.

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    • Such a good point. We can appreciate the steps when they are all behind us. Looking back on our trials, it’s easier to see how God was there all along. Thank you, Betty! Blessings to you and your family. ♥️

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© 2018-2025 Bridget A. Thomas. All rights reserved.