The Power of Prayer

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     The spiritual condition was at a low ebb in Israel. The son of Omri, who succeeded him to the throne, exceeded him in doing evil. This was no small feat for the father had been more evil than all who preceded him. Idolatry was everywhere prevalent. To make matters worse, the monarch took as a wife, Jezebel, the wicked daughter of the Sidonian king. She resolved to crush out the worship of Jehovah and install Baal worship in the land. Her first act was to get her husband, Ahab, to build a great temple to Baal, and construct an altar to that idol, in his capital city of Samaria. Then she began a war of ruthless extermination against the remaining prophets of Jehovah. It was then that the national prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, showed what prayer could accomplish.

     Realizing that a demonstration was necessary to bring the people to their knees before Jehovah, he prayed that all rain would be kept from the land. The heavens became like brass and the earth like iron. Springs ceased to flow and watercourses dried up and became dusty. The king called his prime minister and said, "Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals." They divided the land between them to survey it. The king went one way by himself, the minister went in the other direction by himself. Three years and six months had gone by, and Elijah prayed again, this time for rain. "And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind and there was a great rain" (I Kings 18: 45).

     James 5: 17, 18 says, "Do you remember Elijah? He was a man like us but he prayed earnestly that it should not rain. In fact, not a drop fell on the land for three and a half years. Then he prayed again, the heavens gave the rain and the earth sprouted with vegetation as usual." This is cited to illustrate a point. "Tremendous power is made available through a good man's earnest prayer." Elijah was a man like us in one way, but the thing we need is men who will be like Elijah. He knew how to turn on heaven's generator, he had the key to the power plant of God.

     The power of heaven is available to us. If it is not, there would have been no point in saying that Elijah was a man like us. But that power, tremendous in its potentiality, is only made available through prayer. It must be offered by good men. It must be offered in earnest. This is the combination which unlocks the vault of divine energy. A great mistake is made in concluding that God's power is expressed only in the realm of the natural and miraculous. Men conclude that because supernatural power is not exercised that extraordinary power is not. There is a difference in the two. Not everything that is uncommon or unusual is miraculous.

     I am convinced we do not use the might that is available for us. Our house is wired for electricity but we burn tallow candles. We possess dynamite but are content to shoot firecrackers. God is ready to do more for us, and through us, than we are ready for him to do.

     We are self eclipsed, getting between ourselves and the light of heaven. When Jesus withered a fig tree to the roots by a spoken word, his disciples were amazed. He answered them, "Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him."

     Not all mountains are physical. There are intangible mountains of disunity and division. Because they loom big, men become fearful and unbelieving. They quail before the seemingly insuperable barriers. But no obstruction is greater than God's power. Any mountain is weak when it meets a man of God. When such a man rises up the mountain falls down. Does God want this mountain removed?

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Furnish him the man who will say, "Be taken up and cast into the sea," and He will furnish the power. There are two things required of such a man. He must have a heart empty of doubt and full of faith. He must believe that what he says will come to pass. A heart is powerless when it vacillates between doubt and belief. "A house divided against itself cannot stand...... He must ask in sincere faith without secret doubts as to whether he really wants God's help or not. The man who trusts God, but with inward reservations, is like a wave of the sea, carried forward by the wind one moment, and driven back the next. That sort of man cannot hope to receive anything from God, and the life of a man of divided loyalty will reveal instability at every turn" (James 1: 6-8).

     Secret doubts, inward reservations, divided loyalty -- these sum up the reasons why so many are weak, helpless, frustrated, distressed and discouraged. Like Peter, they take their eyes off of Christ, and look at the water. That is when they start to sink. Jesus put his finger on the difficulty when he said to Peter, "O, thou of little faith!" Peter had faith to start when Christ called to him, but it was not enough to keep him going. We need men today who can keep their heads above water while walking to Jesus. We do not need to be satisfied with things as they are. During the Renaissance men re-made the world. We can do the same. We can help usher in a golden age. It is true that waves of sectarianism beat high, the winds of false doctrine shriek through the rigging of the Ship of Zion, and the thunder of schismatic cries reverberates through the religious firmament. But I serve one who commanded the sea to be calm, and the winds and the waves to obey his will. There was never a storm which did not end. The sun will shine again!

     I am asked if I really expect my feeble efforts to contribute materially toward restoration and unity. Men point to my lack of finance, my limitations of formal education, the puny size of this little journal issued only once per month. They picture the magnitude of the problem with almost three hundred great sects pitted against each other. They point to the huge seminaries grinding out thousands of clergymen annually, the millions of dollars in the hands of those who support sectarian enterprises, the hundreds of books and papers pouring in a stream from the press, to be used as propaganda mediums. They tell me of whisper campaigns of my own brethren, of secret meetings filled with fear and fuming. "But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself!" Does Jesus want the mountain of sectism and partisan spirit removed and cast into the sea? Does he want all who believe in him to be one? Does he really? Then someone must arise who has no doubt in his heart that it can be done. He must believe that what he says will come to pass. Only then can God do for him what he prays to be done! He who works thus, and works for God's purpose, works with God! Tremendous power is made available through a good man's earnest prayer!

     God's power is not limited by education, finance, or feebleness. He can conquer by the few as well as with the many. He has not chosen the wise, the mighty, or the noble. He has chosen the foolish, the weak, the base, and the things that are despised! That lets me in. "Here am I, Lord, send me!" Yes, brethren, it will come to pass. The prayer of Jesus will not go unanswered!