Prayer Changes Things

Ever wonder if the words you pray reach heaven? And if you do manage to get a prayer through, do you think that God won’t answer you? I used to struggle with both questions for years until I started praying for my older brother 17 years ago.

Ron was the kindest, most cordial person you would ever want to meet. He worked in the hospitality industry and loved to put smiles on people’s faces, but he clearly needed a miracle in his own life.

When I realized what was going on and that nothing short of a God intervention would change things, I called my friend and asked if she would be my prayer partner. We agreed to pray for my brother, his wife and their children every day, 365 days a year, until something broke. Little did we know that we would spend the next five years bombarding heaven on their behalf.

I’ll finish the rest of the story in a moment, but what about you?

Do you take the time to pray? I’m not trying to send you on a guilt trip, but we need some Spirit-filled women who will commit to praying 365 days a year.

It’s up to you how long and when you pray, but by all means pray! The benefits of prayer will far outweigh the resistance you’ll experience as you get started.

There was a time in my life when I simply could not pray. I wondered why but deep inside me, I knew the answer. The Bible says that if you regard iniquity in your heart He does not hear you.
When I would kneel to pray, the enemy would constantly accuse me of wrongdoing. But the Holy Spirit would pry me to pray. I repented of my sins and eventually got back on my post.

Scripture tells us that the “effective, fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much” (James 5:16, NKJV). We must keep our hearts clear of any wrongdoing.

With regard to my brother, my prayer partner and I prayed about everything: his marriage, their children, finances, strongholds, but most importantly, we prayed for salvation. And after years of what I call “working in the trenches,” we felt a release to stop praying.

In late 2001, my brother passed away from cancer, but not before God answered our prayer: Lord, save Ron. My brother eventually rededicated his life to Christ, joined a Spirit-filled church and died with the joy that once characterized his life. As for my prayer partner and I, we continue to reap the benefits of effective prayer. Prayer, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Things didn’t turn out the way I had hoped for Ron. But God heard and answered me, and today I have this testimony: He is faithful!

I would like to see millions of women come together on spiritledwoman.com to pray. What would happen in the world if we agreed to pray? Nations would turn to God, families would be restored and millions of people would come to Christ. So log on and let your fingers do the talking, and watch God turn things around in our world.

Valerie Lowe is editor of spiritledwoman.com.