How powerful are you? When we hear (or read) that question, we automatically start thinking about how much weight we can lift or how large of a load that we can move. However, when discussing the principles of Godly power, it has nothing to do with what we can in our own strength. Instead, when we discuss our power, it revolves around the power of God that already exists inside of everyone of God’s people.
However, untapped power is largely useless. For instance, if your cellphone batter is about to die and you have a charger sitting beside you, you know that you need to plug your cellphone into a power source to rebuild its power. In the same vein, we have a way of plugging into our Source. When we pray, we plug into the Source of our power. Additionally, being plugged into God allows us to unleash the power that we need for whatever opposition we are facing.
Asking and Receiving
Matthew 7:7-8 (TPT)
Ask, and the gift is yours. Seek, and you’ll discover. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. For every persistent one will get what he asks for. Every persistent seeker will discover what he longs for. And everyone who knocks persistently will one day find an open door.
Before we unpack what this Scripture is really about, we need to first understand what it isn’t saying. Tragically, some people have manipulated Scriptures and created a doctrine around this misinterpretation. In these verses, Jesus isn’t saying that if you ask God for a million dollars that the money will just magically appear in your bank account. It doesn’t mean that if you tell God you really want a new vehicle that you will open your door and a Porsche will have suddenly appeared.
However, this verse speaks to God’s willingness to give His people what they need. If you are facing financial hardships, God has promised to provide for His children. God’s provision may not look like a Publisher’s Clearinghouse check. Instead, it may look like a job. If you need a vehicle, God’s provision may not look like a shiny new sportscar. However, you may be surprised to find out that someone in your family wants to bless you with a vehicle because they’re getting a new one.
The important thing to remember is that Christ promises an answer if we ask. Many people wonder why they don’t experience the power of God in their lives, but they never knock on the door like Jesus said to.
The first step to unleashing God’s power in your life is committing to going to Him in prayer. That doesn’t just mean that we go to God when we need something. Instead, we should make prayer a large part of our daily routines. When we spend more time plugged into the Source of our power, that power is more evident in our daily lives.
Making it Count
2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (TPT)
For although we live in the natural realm, we don’t wage a military campaign against human weapons, using manipulation to achieve our aims. Instead, our spiritual weapons are energized with divine power to effectively dismantle the defenses behind which people hide.
How different would your life be if you decided to make every day really count for something? What if you decided that every day, you were going to get the most out of every 24-hour period? Maybe you would check a few items off of your bucket list. Perhaps you would spend more time with the people that you care about the most. Regardless of what it would look like, you’d probably make some changes to the way that you spend most days.
Now, what if you decided right now that you’re going to start making every prayer count. Instead of our usual, “God, thank you for this food,” before a meal, you decided that you were going to commit time every day to truly seeking God through the gift of prayer.
How different would your prayers look if you decided to really make everyone count. In this passage from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian Church, he talked about the way that we are constantly battling against supernatural forces. He encouraged us to use “spiritual weapons.”
There is perhaps no greater spiritual weapon than prayer. It may seem counterintuitive, but our greatest weapon is our ability to simply turn our battles over to God. When we think of our power and the battles that we face in the spiritual realm, we assume that we need to figure out how to fight them on our own. However, prayer is our greatest spiritual weapon.
When you’re praying, are you simply going through the motions? Or are you truly making it count? Don’t let your prayers become a routine. Instead, treat them as your strongest weapon against the enemy.
Waiting It Out
Psalm 27:14 (TPT)
Here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Don’t give up; don’t be impatient; be entwined as one with the Lord. Be brave and courageous, and never lose hope. Yes, keep on waiting-for he will never disappoint you.
Do you remember the example we discussed earlier about your cellphone? Let’s be honest, most of us start sweating when our battery percentage gets down to around 20%. When the little battery icon in the corner of your screen goes from green to yellow, or even worse, from yellow to red, you know it’s time to plug into your power source. However, you don’t immediately unplug the phone and assume that it’s returned to its full power. You wait it out. You leave the phone on charge until it fully rebounds.
Spiritually, one of the hardest things we ever have to do is wait. We live in a society of instant gratification. We like fast food, microwavable meals, and the ability to pull up any bit of needed information on our phone, tablet, or computer. However, sometimes really tapping into the spiritual power that we have access to involves waiting.
God’s promises may take longer than you would like them to take. David, the writer of the Scripture that we just read knew all about that. Roughly 15 years passed between the day he was anointed as the King of Israel and the day he got to finally take the throne. Over the course of those 15 years, David killed Goliath, led his own armies, and even faced an angry King Saul who wanted to kill him before he could rise to his true potential.
That’s why David was able to open this Psalm by saying, “Here’s what I have learned through it all.” David had been through it all. However, David understood the importance of waiting. He knew the power of God. He saw it at work in his own life. But he also knew the worry of waiting. He knew how difficult it could be to spend a long time waiting on something that you believe God has already promised you.
In the same way that you are willing to spend time waiting on your cellphone to regain its charge, make sure that you’re waiting on God to fully restore you to the power that you have. It’s worth the wait.
A Closing Prayer:
God, thank You for the power that I have through You. I know that my own power would never be enough to overcome the things that I have to face every day. However, I know that You are for me. Give me the strength to wait. Remind me of Your promises in Your Word. I know that You are my Source, and I’m committed to making every day, and every prayer count. In Christ’s name, Amen.