A force to be reckoned with

If you want to read a book about prayer you need only look as far as any Christian bookstore. And immediately you will be bombarded with hundreds of titles about how to be powerful in your prayer and how to be effective in prayer. There are so many titles and theories because Prayer is effective! It changes things. Don't believe me....James 5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much(KJV). Is that a bit too old English for you? How about out of the NIV "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." Or maybe you like the Message "The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with." You cannot deny the power of prayer. James 5 goes on to reference the prophet Elijah who following God's command prayed that there would be no rain for three and a half years and there wasn't. Why did God have Elijah pray this way? Because a generation had forsaken the Lord. We live in such a generation. People don't know the one true and living God. They don't know the power of resurrection and redemption. We live in a time of chaos and destruction. It could lead us to despair. Elijah could have felt the same...all the prophets and believers had been slain. All those following the Lord had been lost. The times were troubled. But instead of despair or fear, Elijah used the force to be reckoned with - Prayer. He prayed that repentance would happen. That when the drought was over the nation of Israel would again believe in her God. Our times are no different than those of Elijah. Our weapon no weaker than his. Pray for the nation to return to her roots, or your son/daughter to return to the teachings of their childhood, or you friend or co-worker who has lost their way. It doesn't matter who you are praying for...just that you are praying. James 5 ends this way. "My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God's truth, don't write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God."(The Message) Don't write anyone off today, instead pursue them. Pray for them. Use the force! Restore peace between them and their God!