Prayer is a powerful force and one that we should make more use of.  When I think of the power of prayer, I am reminded that a Jewish professor once wrote a formula on the blackboard in his classroom to amuse his students.  The formula that Albert Einstein wrote was E=MC2.  Energy equals mass multiplied by the square of the speed of light.  Time magazine said that man could forget all he had learned to that point as this formula changed everything.  This was the first key to the doors leading to atomic power.  This was the power to build "The Bomb".  It is the power that has been harnessed to light our homes and factories.  It is the power that propels submarines today.  It is the power that dictators use to keep our present world in turmoil.  It is a power that can be used for good or evil, for or against humanity.

        Man, in the long ago found fire when he learned how to make a spark.  Fire in a flame thrower can burn bodies to a crisp.  Fire in a stove can cook our food.

        Explosives can be packed in a shell casing and blow men to bits.  They can be used in a coal mine to dig out coal to keep us warm in winter.  Electricity can toast your bread at the breakfast table.  It was also used to power the chair in the death chamber.

        You see, none of these powers discovered by man possess any redeeming force.  None of them can change the fundamental nature of man.  Man has acquired one power after another.  However, none of these have ever turned mankind toward God nor have they made man more like God.

        It would take another kind of power altogether to make an unhappy man happy.  It would take something else to make a bad man good or a cruel man kind or a stupid man wise.  There is such power freely available in this world of ours.  This power keeps man's inventions from being used for evil.  This is a power that has been at man's disposal for 2,000 years.

        The greatest force ever presented to mankind streamed forth in blood, sweat, tears and death on Calvary.  It was a power so great that it shattered the last fortress -- death.  A power so great that it made atonement for all the sins.  A power so tremendous that with it nothing is impossible.  A power so simple that a child may use it.  It is the power we reach for when our hands are clasped in prayer.  The prayer of faith can move mountains and heal the sick.  It can overcome the world.

        For us, prayer is generally unexplored territory.  Quite often we regard prayer as an emergency measure.  For us, it is perhaps a conventional practice to be maintained.  It is our background and not conviction that keeps some of us praying.  For most, the real value of prayer lies undiscovered and unrealized.  Sometimes we hit on the right way to pray and things happen, our prayers are gloriously answered.  Sadly, for the most part, our praying is very haphazard.

        We could write about men of prayer we read of in the Bible.  There were men like Elijah, Daniel and Jonah.  Perhaps we could talk about commands to pray.  Instead, let's take a look at an example of what prayer accomplishes.  It is in Acts 12:5 we read that "prayer was made".  Have you ever asked why?  Those saints prayed because they felt the need of prayer.   One of the great tragedies of our spirituality is we often pray without a real sense of need.  Our need does not make us desperate.  We want God to cooperate with us and not us with Him.  Yet, when these disciples prayed, Peter had four squads of soldiers guarding him.  For these saints, there was one door of hope open and only one.  They were not wealthy, they could not bribe or influence Herod.  All they could do was pray.  In their faith, they felt that there was something God could do, so they prayed.     

        Notice that Luke is specific as to how they prayed.  They united in prayer, they prayed as a group, they prayed as a church.  Dr. Luke is reminding us of the power of united prayer.  When you look at the Lord's promises, they are rich.  He tells us to enter our closet, shut the door and pray.  He tells us everyone that asketh, receiveth, he that seeketh , findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.  Beloved, whether others take advantage of prayer or not, I can take advantage of it.

        Yet, if the Lord's promises to the individual are rich, his promises to the group are even richer.  If as many as two of us agree, if two of us are in tune with each other, God tells us we can accomplish the impossible.  Make no mistake about it, a praying church is a mighty church.  Praying is what makes it possible for God to do the impossible.

        The story in Acts 12 has a victorious ending.  Peter, if you recall, was released from prison.  But, this victorious ending and triumph was not a necessity.  I believe that if these people had not prayed this story would have had a different ending.  If the story had read, "but prayer was not made" the outcome would have been tragic.

        God, you see, is always eager to help, but too often we fail to give Him a chance.  Have you ever thought how much we miss as individuals by a failure to pray?  Let's make sure we are living God's kind of life so that we may be on praying terms with God and unleash the power of God through prayer.

It's something to think about.

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