The Power of Prayer

(This entry was written at the end of my trip to Peru I just never got a chance to type it up and post it online.)

As I have been reading through Mark one thing I have really noticed has been the power and authority of Jesus. It is a really short book, packed full of action. In the very first chapter I saw God's amazing power on display as Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law. She lay ill with a fever and He took her by the hand, and healed her, and she instantly started serving. It wasn't just a partial healing. She didn't start recovering and relax for a week. It was instantaneous and she immediately began serving them.

As I continued reading I couldn't help marveling at God's amazing power. He continues to heal. He cleanses a leper, He restores a withered hand, He grants hearing to deaf ears. His power is displayed as He walks on water. In chapter nine I found even more evidence of God's amazing power. Verse 3 referring to the transfiguration speaks of clothes so radiant and intensely white as no one on earth could bleach them (ESV). As silly as this may sound this stood out to me showing God’s awesome power to do that which on earth is humanly impossible.

After the transfiguration, Jesus then heals a boy who has an unclean spirit. He says to the spirit come out of him and never enter him again. He spoke with authority and tremendous power. Now the account tells us that the disciples had tried to cast out this demon but couldn’t. After Jesus healed the boy they privately asked why they had been powerless to do so. After being struck time and time again with God’s awesome power I was even more struck with Jesus’ response. He tells them in verse 29 “this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” Prayer is so powerful and it is a means through which God chooses to work and display His power.

I have seen this power on display this week. I told you in a previous post about the little girl who got saved at Alta Routa, the Jr. High youth group. This Friday night I prayed again multiple times. I asked God about a specific youth, about opportunities to speak to him, and I asked Him to save one child there that night. God answered above and beyond what I ever expected or could even imagine. Four kids got saved that night and we found out that 2 others we had been seriously praying for had been saved earlier this week. The two kids saved earlier this week were actually brothers. We have been praying for the salvation of their entire family since the beginning of our trip here. Please pray with us for the Oliva family. God is so awesome and prayer is so powerful. We should be praying more than anything we are doing. We should bathe whatever we are doing in prayer.
--POSTED BY JENN