Never Give Up On Prayer
The apostle Paul closed his first letter to the church at Thessalonica by providing the church with one charge after another. These are meant to be strong closing points that they should not neglect nor forget. Prayer is essential among them so he says, “Pray without Ceasing.” Now it hardly seems possible or plausible that we would be praying always, but the point is, we should always keep prayer at the centerpiece of our life and we should never lose hope in the power of prayer.
My wife showed me a short video this week of an infant sitting in her high chair with her head bowed as her parents prayed the blessing over their meal. At the end of the prayer, the baby raised her head and shouted “AMEN.” In a world that seems to quickly be ruling out prayer as a legal right of citizens, it always seems confusing to me that news media, politicians, and others will always speak of tragedies and other horrible events by closing with this statement, “our prayers and thoughts are with them.” However, they fail to mention that they don’t support anyone’s right to pray publicly because it is the politically incorrect way for one to respond.
I was visiting the Piedmont Church of God recently where David and Keena Cox serve as pastor. Many of you know Keena, as she is one of our chaplains and worked at the Seminary as the Administrative Assistant to Dr. Oliver McMahan. David attended the Seminary, and his father is a pastor in North Carolina. They have also served as State Youth and Discipleship Directors for the Rocky Mountain Region. At the close of the message, Pastor David asked if anyone needed prayer to be saved. No one moved until this tiny boy, who was a small six-year-old, walked up. Pastor David leaned over and the little boy put his hand on the man he called “Brudder David.” He was crying big tears and Pastor David said, he is asking us to pray that God will save his dad (who we later learned is fighting drug addiction). The whole congregation stood and grown men wept as they joined this little boy in prayer! This, I think, is what Paul meant about us praying without ceasing…ready in a moment to pray whatever the need.
Chaplains see these types of moments happen over and over again. As you walk through the stretches of life that reveal to you the worst of life, you are witnesses to magnificent moments of the power of prayer. You actually and most visibly see souls come to Christ during the toughest times of life. Sometimes, it is a tiny hand you hold, at other times it is a rough calloused hand filled with years of age, but, nonetheless, you are there to pray with that person who needs you. Remember Paul’s words, “Never Cease Praying.” Never stop believing in the power of prayer. Prayer really does change things! WE ALL KNOW THIS TO BE TRUE.
Donnie W. Smith, D. Min.
Director, Chaplain’s Commission
