What Good is Prayer?

In the great struggle between good and evil, the primary Allowed Weapon for God’s human soldiers is prayer because, alone, we don’t stand a chance against the dark powers.  Remember, the battle is spiritual and must be fought in God’s strength, depending on the Word of God and on God through prayer.  The verbal Word of God is called the sword of the spirit.  That sword is one of two offensive weapons in the full armor of God (Eph 6:10-18).  The other offensive weapon is prayer.  Only by prayer are we able to firmly grasp the hilt of the sword in our human hands, remove it from its scabbard and wield it against the invisible forces of evil.  Prayer is the spiritual strength driving the sword of the spirit in our hands as we strive side by side with Jesus Christ to: (1) restore and repossess His corrupted creation which He has set free from the bondage of evil (healing); (2) help the unsaved cross the finish line of salvation and become disciples of Christ as they are being nudged by the Prevenient Grace of God which calls and convicts every soul to be set free from the bondage of sin (evangelism) and (3) by training and right living, prevent the influence of sin from undermining the Christian walk of the saved (discipleship).  I may not have charismatic gifts.  My relationship with Jesus may not always be as personal as I might wish.  But I can stand up as an infantryman in the army of our commander in chief.