The Prayer Of One
I had been thinking a lot about prayer lately. Circumstances brought me to a place where I felt like that one who was “standing in the need of prayer.” And then, so many people around me were suffering from difficult traumas—cancer, marital problems, job insecurity, financial trouble. I felt overwhelmed with it all. I sat down at a table with four other women in our prayer group. One of the women opened the Bible to 1 Timothy 2:1 and read it for all of us: I urge you, first of all, to pray for all the people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. She focused on these words: “first of all” and “pray”. The message of Paul was brought home to my heart and mind.
What am I to do when troubles and trials and sorrows and suffering overwhelm me? First of all, pray. What am I to do about the disasters throughout the world? First of all, pray. What am I to do about the things I see in the country around me? First of all, pray. What am I to do about the trials in the lives of my family and friends? First of all, pray. What am I to do when I feel insecure? First of all, pray. I got it. I heard God’s message about prayer in a way I had not heard it. And I believe He was showing me “for such a time as this”—for me, personally, where I was at in my own life. What God was telling me to do was, before I do anything else, talk with Him.
But God was not finished teaching me important truths about prayer. I was getting ready for work not long after my “first of all, pray” lesson from the Lord. And I was thinking about a verse I had read the day before in Ezekiel 22:30. I have always understood that verse to speak of the importance of prayer. God said to Ezekiel: “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.” I kept pondering those words, “I looked for someone…but I found no one.” And then, God showed me a great truth—the power of one—just one person, just one prayer, to the One, True God. I saw that God is looking for just one person who will pray. The prayer of one person can change everything. Why? Because God hears the prayers of the one, whoever that person may be. What I realized in that moment is that every prayer is before God as a single, stand-out, noticed, and received prayer. I think that at times I have acted as though God has so many prayers to hear that perhaps I need to pray again and again to make sure He hears what I am saying. What we need to understand is that every prayer we pray is heard, noticed, and received by God. He is looking, in fact, for us to pray.
I think about blind Bartimaeus, who was sitting beside the road in Jericho. He heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby. He began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The crowd told him to be quiet. But he did not pay attention to the crowd, only to Jesus. In fact, the text in Mark 10:46-52 says that he began to shout louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” And here is one of the beauties in this true event. When Jesus heard the shouts of Bartimaeus, He stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they ran to Bartimaeus and told him that Jesus was calling him. And so, Bartimaeus came to Jesus. Jesus asked him a simple, yet profound question that we must all memorize, “What do you want Me to do for you?” Oh I love that question. The blind man said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly he could see and he followed Jesus.
Here we see how powerful one prayer is. God is looking for one. And we hear the words of Jesus, “What do you want Me to do for you?” I believe that is a real question from the Lord. What do you want the Lord to do for you? If you could ask Him anything and had His ear, what would you say? Friend, pour out your heart to Him today. Be a David, who said, “In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch” (Psalm 5:3). David knew the secret and you can know it too. I don’t know how God will answer your prayer, but I do know He will answer your prayer. The secret is, first of all, pray.
