Electricity has given us many conveniences. It has ushered in everything from heat and air conditioning to dishwashers and televisions to computers and electric lights. I would far exceed my word limit just listing all the gadgets and benefits we enjoy from this incredible gift of physics in all our homes and lives.
Although electrical energy existed since creation, only recently in history have humans figured out how to harness and use it to our advantage. For millennia, its vast potentialities lay untapped and wasted. Thanks to Mr. Edison and others, today we can enjoy a steaming cup of coffee, frozen ice cream, and a hot shower anytime of the year.
Electricity, however, can also inform our prayer life. Like the power of the electron, prayer’s true power lies virtually undetected and unused by many people. Prayer’s ability to alter ourselves and our world around us is even greater than that of any physical phenomena for it accesses the infinitely powerful God.
Just as our light switches aren’t the source of electricity, so too prayer is only the means by which we channel the power of the Creator. Unlike a power plant, however, that is limited by its hydroelectric, nuclear, or fossil fuel capacity, the source of power in God, available through prayer, is limitless.
It flows down to us from heaven not through wires hung on poles or buried underground, but supernaturally by God’s grace and mercy. Because of this, it is accessible even in areas unreached by the electric grid. Since God’s presence permeates His creation, there is nowhere we cannot tap into His resources and we can engage Him at any time and place.
It’s also true that just as some substances are good electrical conductors while others are resistors, the same is true in the realm of prayer. Attitudes such as humility, trust, and faith enhance prayer’s effectiveness for these are the mindsets that God has designed for maximum conductivity of His power and grace. Conversely, pride and doubt resist and insulate us from experiencing God’s full and complete capabilities.
There’s another difference as well. Thankfully, unlike electricity, the power available to us through prayer is free. Jesus’ sacrificial death paid the price for us to enter heaven’s throne room and speak to God directly. When He was crucified on the cross, the veil in the temple that prohibited entry into the Holy of Holies was split in two thus opening to all access to the Heavenly Father.
This coming Thursday is the National Day of Prayer and our nation is definitely in need of prayer. Our leaders need it, our communities need it, our families need it, our churches need it, and our schools need it. I encourage all believers to take some time on Thursday to make sure your power switch is on by conversing with the Father. Invite Him to work and change our nation and our people into what He desires. Surrender yourself and your political, religious, and personal agendas to God and ask Him to reveal His will and His way. And then be faithful to live it.
For those who can come, there will be a National Day of Prayer Service at noon on May 2 at Antioch Church of the Brethren at 23502 Senedo Road, Woodstock. All are invited and no one will be called on to pray aloud but opportunities will be given to do so.
Growing up, my parents always reminded me to turn the light switches off whenever I left a room and that habit has stayed with me over the years. There’s no telling how many dollars in utility costs that simple habit has saved me and my employers. But prayer is different. Be sure to leave the connection open, the switch on, and the power flowing. For unlike electricity, it will cost us far more to turn it off than to leave it on! Let’s pray for our nation and for ourselves next Thursday especially, but every other day as well.
Blessings, George