"The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
James 5:16
Just a quick note today - I was working on dinner and had FOXNEWS on this morning, and much of the coverage is the big blizzard that is hitting the east coast later today. The anchor was explaining that this storm not only affects the 50 million people in its path, but the rest of our country and potentially the world, considering 1700 flights have already been cancelled which throws off travel worldwide. At the end of her segment, the anchor looked into the camera and said, "Your thoughts for America are appreciated."
Hmmm…
Thoughts or prayers? Do our thoughts affect the heart of God? What a strange comment. Let's say I am in Paris, sipping some hot chocolate at a street cafe and my thoughts turn to the blizzard. Does that do anyone any good?
I think you get my point. I am not saying that we can pray the storm away, but I am saying that God hears the prayers of righteous men. Not only are there many believers on the east coast, but there are 50 million image bearers who are going to be affected by this blizzard. Lives will be lost, power will be out, there will be shortages of food and kids will not be in school. Flights will still be cancelled and all travel will be inconvenienced. I heard this morning that crews from Michigan are already on their way to help with the power outages. These are but a few of the consequences of a major storm like this, and who knows how long these difficulties will last?
We must pray for our country. We must ask God to be merciful and to protect the people, restore the power, provide the help, and minimize the suffering from this storm. It's not that we deserve His grace, but He loves us and wants to hear our prayers.
So friends, stop thinking about it and please pray.
Yes you are so right, we can think all we want and it doesn't change a thing, but God hears the prayers of His own and that alone can change our thoughts.
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