Super Power

(Written 3/2010)

I have been trying to master a top-secret superpower lately: a power I’ve always known but never fully grasped its potential. And it’s more amazing than I could have ever imagined.

Here’s how it works:

You confide to me a challenge you face? SHAZAM! I pray for you.

You look sad or angry as you walk past me? POW! I pray for you.

You cut me off in traffic? BAM! I pray for you (you little prick).

It’s incredible. I know, because I’ve been praying lately about bad situations in my life and, as a result, have seen firsthand the power of prayer. My mom’s battle with breast cancer? ZING! Covered by prayer. My dad’s potentially serious accident? WHAM! Covered by prayer. Severe depression of someone close to me? KAPOW! You wouldn’t even believe the power I’ve witnessed.

And one of the greatest parts about it: the person I’m praying for (the prayee?) not only doesn’t have to know he or she is being prayed for but doesn’t even have to believe. Think of Elisha praying for his patroness’ dead son. He was dead! But he still benefited by coming back to life – you can’t get much better than that! Yes, the power of prayer.

It’s like J. Sidlow Baxter once said, “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.” (ZAP!)

But don’t get me wrong. I don’t take credit for any of these changes. It’s not really my super power. I’m more like Sherlock’s Dr. Watson. Or Batman’s Robin. Or the snotty little kid that brags about how strong her daddy is compared to yours. I’m the sidekick that comes along for the ride, helps in a really minor way, and then stands there smiling smugly as the power is unleashed and has its profound effects. But it still feels really great. God tells us just to pray about it, and He’ll handle the rest. And then He really does.

This is still new. Like I said, I’ve always heard about the power of prayer and believed it. But now I’m really, truly using it. And that elusive “peace that passes all understanding” that I’ve been chasing for years? Got it, Baby. (POW!)
And I also recognize that there’s a second step I need to take: removing the top-secret from the super power. Think of Peter in the first chapters of the book of Acts. At Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit had taken hold of the apostles and they began to amaze the crowds by speaking foreign languages, Peter then stands up and explains this power source to the crowds. Not secret there!

In the very next chapter of Acts, Peter and John heal the man lame from birth. Again, a huge crowd gathers to gape at the miracle, and Peter uses the opportunity to witness about the source of the power and how each believer can draw from it. Prayer is a power to share. You use it to promote God’s work, and then you explain it to others so they can use it. You pass it on.

I’ve seen the power. Now I need to pray for bravery to witness about it. Strange how hard that seems. When I absolutely love a store or a product or a book, I have no problem telling everyone I know about it. So why am I keeping this super power top secret?

No fear: I know exactly how to go about getting that bravery. ZING! Acts 4 includes a beautiful prayer for boldness as God’s witnesses. And the prayer is so powerful that the house shakes.

Secure the picture frames, here it comes...!