Keep Praying.

Our world is broken.This is something we have always known since the very beginning of the earth when Adam and Eve sinned, but I think now more than ever we can all see just how broken it is. Headlines of terror and violence and destruction flash across our screens everyday of people left dead or hurt or traumatized or mourning. The saddest thing is that the same violence keeps reoccurring, and nothing seems to be changing or getting better. I see people begging for reformation and progress, which I agree needs to happen, but I’ve also seen something else that breaks my heart: the rejection of prayer. I don’t blame people for desiring visible changes after such events, but I think we need to remember that our prayers aren’t pointless. “While they were praying, the place where they were meeting trembled and shook. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak God’s Word with fearless confidence" (Acts 4:31).These people were servants of Jesus or some of His devout followers (many of them leaders). They met together to pray because they had heard of a plot against Jesus in Israel with people of many different nations, including Herod and Pontius Pilate. The servants cried to Jesus to fill them with His power so they may perform miracles and wonders through the power of His Holy Spirit. In Acts 4:31, we can see how God answered their prayers in fullness!I think this story is really important because we live in a similar place. People are rejecting prayers because they don’t see how prayers can do anything, when, in reality, prayers can initiate the most change. Think about it; prayers are when our cries for help go to the One who holds the universe, the One who is over everything and holds everything together. They aren't empty words if your heart is behind them. It's so amazing to me because prayers are the way in which we can have direct contact with God—basically like a phone call to give him an update and share what's on our heart. As believers who have given their life to Christ and as people who can recognize our inability to control our life, we must turn from our limitations in times of need. We must turn to our Heavenly Father in prayer because He has no limitations! He is the only one who can fulfill our desires completely; there is no perfect Earthly solution, but who's to say our perfect God can't deliver a perfect solution if we all reach to Him?There are countless other stories and verses in the Bible that point us to prayer; for example, the story of the barren fig tree. Jesus sees a fig tree on the side of the road and sees that it is nothing but leaves, so He commands that it never bear fruit again, and it withered before the eyes of the disciples in that instant. Jesus goes on to say, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. And if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer" (Matthew 21:21).Another verse, Philippians 4:6 says, “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”We often can't see how His ways are being made known, but I know they are being made ready to reveal to us. I know that the same God who raised Jesus from the dead and brought the walls of Jericho down and healed the blind and made the building where His servants were praying tremble and shake and filled it with the Holy Spirit is alive among us! He's living, and He's moving, and He hears our prayers. He can do things just as wondrous today as He did then. Our prayers are the most powerful weapon we could ever use because prayers go to the One who holds the planets. Don't stop praying because things have gotten too bad; pray because the too bad can be overcome by the One who is all good.words by Samantha Burton and photo by Cate Willis