When the speaker ended her session and began to pray, her prayer was so powerful I had to open my eyes to watch her pray! “Lord, I want to pray like that!” I had attended the conference to spiritually recharge and came away with a hunger for prayer like I had never experienced before.
The power of her prayer exposed her connection to the One who holds the power to answer prayer.
In the below verse Paul specifically prayed for power for the Christians in Ephesus:
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)
The word used for power in verse 16 is from the Greek word Dunamis. “Dunamis, Strong’s # G1411: …Dunamis means energy, power, might, great force, great ability, strength…This is the norm for the Spirit-filled and Spirit-led church.” ¹
“Spiritual power is a mark of every Christian who submits to God’s Word and Spirit. It is not reserved for some special class of Christian, but for all those who discipline their minds and spirits to study the Word, understand it, and live by it. Although the outer physical person becomes weaker with age, the inner spiritual person should grow stronger through the Holy Spirit, who will energize, revitalize, and empower the obedient, committed Christian.”²
If I use my Smart Phone or other device without connecting to a power source it will eventually lose all power. I used to have a phone that made an incredibly annoying sound when it needed charged. It would continue until connected to the power source or until it was completely dead. It was annoying enough that on several occasions I had to get out of bed in the middle of the night to locate the device in another part of the house to put an end to such misery. I often wondered if I too am an incredible annoyance to those around me when I am not regularly connected & charged by my power source – Jesus Christ!
The key to praying like that is to be connected the One who holds the POWER to answer our prayers. Are you connected or do you need to recharge?
Copyright©2016, Gloria Stucky
Image courtesy of “Power Switch For Energy” by Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
¹ Spirit Filled Life Bible commentary, page 1632
²The MacArthur Study Bible, page 1807