" It’s easy to feel powerless to make a difference in a world of pain, disease, injustice, and other forms of brokenness. But as Christians, we are not without power. The Lord’s Prayer exhorts us to invite God’s Kingdom, where the fullness of His goodness and justice exists, to come here; to ask God to provide for our physical needs; and to request His protection against spiritual warfare. But Jesus goes even further: “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs” (Lk. 11:5–8, CSB).
What provokes the friend’s abundant provision? The audacity of the one who asks. God loves to respond to our shameless boldness—not because of anything we’ve done, but according to His compassion. Scripture repeatedly teaches that prayer is a powerful means for effecting change, and this has been lived out in The Alliance from the very beginning of our movement. Skye Jethani puts it this way: “We are not merely passive set pieces in a prearranged cosmic drama, but we are active participants with God in the writing, directing, design, and action that unfolds. Prayer, therefore, is much more than asking God for this or that outcome . . . In prayer, we are invited to join him in directing the course of his world.”
When we feel overwhelmed by our world’s brokenness, may we have the audacity to intercede for God’s provision, intervention, and salvation. Let us pray as Jesus did with the persistence that Jesus urged. This is how we’ve been invited to participate in God’s renewal of our world." adapted from an article by Spencer Sweeting, pastor, North Springs Alliance Chu
