About a month ago I was thinking about this phrase we as Christians so often say….”Well, all we can do is pray.” I’ve heard this my whole life. But then God spoke to me and said, “The BEST thing we can do is pray.” Sometimes I think we think prayer is not all that powerful. It is an act of talking to God without always seeing instant results. This can make us impatient and question “Are my prayers really working?” We like to see the miraculous. People healed, touched and set free right before our eyes. We like to see with our eyes the fruits of our prayers.

While the phrase “All we can do is pray”is good because we are acknowledging that it is out of our control and only God can take care of the situation, it can also be made to sound like “prayer is just a little something.” So I’ve changed my wording when someone needs prayer I say, the very BEST thing we can do for them is PRAY.

Prayer is so much more of a powerful tool than we can ever know. Talking to the Almighty God, the King of the Universe, submitting and surrendering all to Him and leaning on him one hundred percent, and believing He can do anything!

You may see a lot of your prayers answered in your life time. People saved, healed, delivered from drugs or alcohol. But you may never see some of the prayers you have prayed answered. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t! That little neighbor girl you drove to Vacation Bible School every night may go through her whole life not serving Jesus but yet someday she does and she remembers you taking her there and what she learned. She remembers the Bible story and the salvation message. You made an impact on her life and God saw it even if you didn’t. You planted the seed.

The co-worker that you worked with that was grumpy and hateful every day saw Jesus in you because you were kind anyways. They knew you were a Christian. They knew you were different. But they weren’t interested in the “Jesus” thing. You prayed for them and they didn’t even know it. Years may go by and you move to another job. Someone else comes into that persons life and tells them about Jesus and they remember back to how you always showed them love no matter what. They now wanted that “Jesus” thing in their life. And when they did..they remembered you. Again, you planted the seed.

So many situations seem so out of our control. We see needs and our human nature wants to fix them. We truly want to help others. And we can in various ways. But the BEST thing we can do is pray. And how often do we say we are praying and we either forget or it is a 10 second “Jesus touch them.” Or a praying hands emoji on Facebook with no actual prayer. Don’t get me wrong, Jesus hears every prayer short or long but oh how we can touch the throne of God if we truly cry out for people. Oh how Jesus longs to hear His people pray. Like really pray. As in going after Him hard believing with the utmost faith that He CAN and WILL intervene in situations and He will comfort the hurting, save the lost, and set free those in bondage. When we go to a quiet place alone to pray with Him, He longs for us to lift up His name and praise Him for His greatness first. Then let Him fill our empty spirits as we pray. And then go to Him for the needs of others.

God is so pleased when we want to help others. When we want to do things for others selflessly. But sometimes the biggest need of all in a situation is fervent prayer. Our human nature sometimes wants to run in and save the day. Let God be God. And take a few steps back and pray about God’s will before running in physically to help someone. And if you listen quietly without talking over God and interrupting Him, He will speak to you and you will have a peace and you will know His will.

Our empathy and compassion is noticed by God. He rewards us for caring and getting our minds off of ourselves and helping someone else. But pray first and let God lead you. Don’t move too fast in the flesh. Move slow in the Spirit. Let Him be your guide.

We are the body of Christ. Some are the arms, some are the legs, some are the head, some are the feet. All parts of the body are used in different ways. Some to serve, some to lead, some to teach, and some to help. But ALL are called to PRAY. And what should you do when you don’t know where God wants to use you?…..PRAY!

There is POWER in PRAYER and oh how this nation and the people of this world need our prayers!

Ephesians 1:18-I pray the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in his holy people.