“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.” Psalm 107:28

Cry out to the Lord.  Ask.  Seek.  Knock.  Pray.  Talk to God.  I am very passionate about the power of prayer.  I believe that prayer is a very intimate way to connect to God.  It is a source of strength, wisdom, guidance and comfort.

Today I am not focusing as much on an individual praying as I am of asking others to join together in prayer.  Notice how the verse above says “they”?  They cried out to the Lord.  There is power in prayer.  There is greater power in unified prayer.

I can personally attest to this.  I have experience times of great struggle where there wasn’t anything a person could control or do to remedy the circumstance.  There have been many times that I privately took this request to God and privately He did comfort.

There have been times more recently though that I reached out to others and I asked them to pray for me.  Many viewed this as such a simple request, “the least I can do is pray”.  No, the greatest thing you can do is pray.  There is something unseen yet so strong about the number of people praying.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that we get what we want any quicker.  A hundred people may pray for the same thing and God may still not answer the prayer in the way we hope or in the time we would like.  Yet its impact can truly grow one’s faith.  It can grow the faith of the group that is praying.  There is great joy to be found in seeing a prayer answered when someone you love is the one who benefits.

I have to admit though, asking for prayer – especially for the things that we struggle with most intimately, is very humbling to do.  In my experience, when I was afraid my request may be met with shame, it was met with love and compassion.  It brought healing, release and comfort.

My suggestion today is to ask for prayer.  Be it a small request or a large request, just go forth and ask.  If you don’t, you just might miss out experiencing the love someone holds for you.

Dear Lord, today may we humble ourselves to come before You.  May we come not just by ourselves, but in unity with other believers.  Lord, please allow Your presence to be felt and experienced by those seeking prayer in groups.  You do tell us that where two or more are gathered that You shall be present.  What a present, what a gift that is.  Turn Your ear Lord.  Hear our prayers.  Grow our faith.  Allow us to experience an extra measure of You today.  Amen