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Prayer Power
by Mervyn Morelock, Lt. Colonel –
It took a miracle to put the stars in place,
It took a miracle to hang the worlds in space.
But when he saved my soul,
Cleansed and made me whole,
It took a miracle of love and grace.
It took a miracle to hang the worlds in space.
But when he saved my soul,
Cleansed and made me whole,
It took a miracle of love and grace.
Most of us don’t think of ourselves as defining a miracle, but in the mind of the songwriter we are miracles of God’s grace!
A recent AARP Magazine article by Bill Newcott, “The Mystery of Miracles,” gives the results of a survey of 1,300 people 45 years of age and older who were asked what they thought about miracles. The results were striking: “Fully 80 percent said they believe in them; 41 percent said they happen every day; and 37 percent said they have actually witnessed one.”
The author writes: “For the overwhelming majority of Americans 50 plus, extraordinary feats by the hand of God are not just a matter of faith…they are a matter of fact.”
Theologians, scientists and the rank and file of us are puzzled by and interested in miracles. What causes them? How are they defined? When we pray and a miracle happens, why is that? How can we separate a miracle from a natural happening? What about when we pray and nothing happens?
We believe in miracles. Some do not, and they look askance at those who do—like folks who believe in space beings and flying saucers. We see miracles every day in our corps and the ARCs. People who are playing in the band who, a few months ago, had been written off as “terminal.” Men who had been declared clinically dead who are serving others in ARCs. We deal in “miracles.”
The AARP article describes a specific miracle as follows:
Dennis Finch, 63, of Kuna, Idaho, says, “A few years ago I was in the hospital in a coma. I stopped breathing several times and the doctors told all my relatives they’d better get to the hospital to say their goodbyes. But people were praying for me. I remember in my coma seeing my brother David and my brother-in-law Roy who had both passed on, and I was really upset because they wouldn’t talk to me. Well, it turned out they wouldn’t talk to me because it wasn’t my time. I lived. The doctors still don’t know what was wrong with me, and they also don’t know why I survived. One doctor calls me his miracle child.”
Finch’s story is the most typical: A hopeless illness, a desperate prayer, an inexplicable recovery.
Testimonies of those who have experienced or witnessed miracles all seem to contain an experience of prayer. And that’s because God answers prayer. There is power in prayer.
The AARP survey shows that of those who believe in miracles, 84 percent say they happen because of God. Seventy-five percent further identify Jesus and the Holy Spirit as the source of miracles, while lesser numbers attribute them to angels, saints and other spirits.
If you are worried about the troubles facing you with your health, your finances, or your relationships, then know that God has provided answers for you. He may have a miracle for you!
Father Jonathan Morris, author and Fox News commentator writes: “For the believer, miracles reveal as much about the nature of God as they do about the beneficiary. When people say ‘This is a miracle,’ they’re not saying ‘God broke the law of nature to give me this blessing.’ They’re saying, ‘God cares about me so much that he allowed this to happen.’”
God sent Jesus to the world to break the power of sin. Thus we can sing, “But when he saved my soul, cleansed and made me whole, it took a MIRACLE of love and grace.”
Isn’t he wonderful!
