Prayer Power – “What a mighty God!”

by Mervyn Morelock, Lt. Colonel

This chorus is often sung at Sunday school assemblies. It has a second verse:

Our choruses have a powerful message, even when sung by children.

This past year we have seen some incredible answers to prayer. We have defeated Satan—driven him away by our prayers.

God has answered prayer over and over: healings from cancer and various surgeries; a child with a medical emergency, healed and back at home; relationships long thought broken and irreparable, restored. Men and women of our adult rehabilitation centers (ARC) have testified of God’s healing and restoration of families.

One ARC reported counselor’s testimony. She had come to work for The Salvation Army as a non-believer, wanting no part of this religious “stuff.” Then she witnessed the remarkable change in the lives of beneficiaries who received Jesus Christ in their lives. Eventually, during a chapel meeting, she gave her heart to Jesus, and now she is living for him!

What a mighty God we serve!
Recently, the world watched the ongoing “miracle rescue” of 33 miners trapped deep underground in Chile for 69 days—a process that took 22 hours. More than a billion people around the world sat glued to their TV sets; Fox News had its highest viewership in 10 years.

While the mainstream media reported the facts of the rescue, here are some things you might not have heard:

Each miner came up alone in the rescue capsule. Most (perhaps all) of the miners were wearing special yellow T-shirts, created for them by the Chilean branch of Campus Crusade for Christ. Emblazoned boldly across the front of the T-shirts were the words, in Spanish, “Thank you, Lord.” The miners, in fact, had requested these words. The shirts were made and delivered to them while they waited for rescue.

Written on the back of the shirts was the Scripture verse, porque en su mano estan. It was Psalm 95:4: In his hands are the depths of the earth, the heights of the mountains are his also.

Now here’s the good news. Rev. Aldredo Cooper, chaplain to the President of Chile, said of the rescued miners, “They’re all wanting to testify to the Lord Jesus Christ. All 33 of them are saying that they found God in the mine. Five or six were already Christians and held services down in the mine. Many went down with no faith at all, but they all say this: “We were not 33; we were 34 because Jesus Christ was with us down there.”

One miner, Mario Sepulveda, told reporters, “We never lost faith. We knew we would be rescued. I have been with God and I’ve been with the devil. I seized the hand of God. I always knew God would get us out of there.”

A medic was sent down the rescue hole before the trapped miners could be brought up. Isn’t that a picture of what God did? He sent his son down to us before we could be rescued. All of us, like the miners, were in darkness. But as Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12).

“I have come as a light into the world, but whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness “ (John 12:46).

(The above is part of the script recorded on Sirius Radio, entitled “The Rest of the Story.”)

During this Thanksgiving month, may we renew our faith in God and resolve to not live in darkness but to follow the Light of Life found in Lord Jesus.

Then, we can each personally sing, “What a Mighty God we serve!”