THE POWER OF A PRAYING CHURCH

 To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Shortly before I became sick during my youthful years, I had just yielded my life to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I was a neophyte in the Christian walk and truly excited about my newfound faith. As a result, I had asked the members of my local church (Celestial Church of Christ) to pray for my healing. This was in accordance with the practice of the early church. In Acts chapter 12, we read that Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. There comes a time in our life’s journey when the prayers of our fellow believers will be the bridge we need to overcome uncommon challenges. There is great power unleashed when people of like faith come together in one accord and raise up their voices on behalf of a fellow believer in trouble. All through my ordeal at the hospital, my newfound church family stood in the gap, praying that God would intervene and bring healing to my sick body. There is no doubt in my mind that the prayers of my fellow Christians were part of the reason I pulled through those very critical stages at the hospital. Now I know that the forces of the devil and the forces of God battled intensely for my young life. But the blood of Jesus prevailed. I believe the saving grace was that I responded to the call of God without delay when the call first came. If I had missed that call, I would have died a premature death. The Bible reminds us that today is the day of salvation, tomorrow may be too late (see 2 Corinthians 6: 2). I can look back now and recall a few of my high school friends who refused to harken to the call of God, only to later become victims of avoidable death. May their souls rest in perfect peace. It is risky to resist the call of God.