[This is an article about the power of intercessory prayer. I urge you to note the entry ABOVE about ASIA BIBI and to be engaging in intercession for her int he days to come. - Stan]
HURRICANE MATTHEW MEETS THE POWER OF PRAYER: Stan M. Yonashiro, Oct. 7, 2016
Orlando, FL - Around 5:30 last night (Thurs. October 6), I was watching the local news as they described how Hurricane Matthew was expected to do terrific damage to even the interior area of Central Florida where I live. I then suddenly sensed God reminding me of how several decades ago, evangelist Pat Robertson had famously prayed that a hurricane headed for his state of Virginia would somehow not hit the state – and it ended up doing just that! I then sensed God saying that if I believed that He could turn the storm away from Florida. Seeing as He is the God of the impossible, I instinctively said, "Of course YOU could." With that conviction, I then felt led to spend time praying that God would do the same thing for us now in Florida. I was admittedly hesitant at first, because it was then only hours before our area was supposed to begin to feel the effects of the hurricane, and it just seemed too late to begin praying. But the impression to spend time in prayer was so strong I decided to not only commit to praying but that I would also fast as well.
And so from 6 pm last night (till 6 pm tonight), I began fasting and praying that God would divert Hurricane Matthew eastward. (Please note that I did not continually pray. I did engage mainly in reading but did stop many times to pray for God to act.) Then, around 11 pm, the news program suddenly announced that the hurricane had started to move just a little to the east – away from Florida! None of the weather experts had any idea how much difference that would make but hearing it happen just encouraged me to continue praying.
I'm not exactly sure what time I fell asleep, but when I got up around 8 am they continued saying that Central Florida should still be receiving strong winds throughout the morning. While the winds never seemed to be blowing very hard where I live, the power suddenly went out at 10:25 am while I was working on my computer. It made me wonder if we were about to really get hit hard. I spent the following hours mainly engaged in doing the hours of intercession I'm in the habit of doing each day, of course stopping to pray for the hurricane at different times.
The power finally came back on just after 4:30 pm but since I wasn't hearing anything different except on the spot hurricane coverage, I spent time doing some work on my blog. .But then, just before 6 pm (just as I was ending my time of fasting), 2 newscasters on a particular broadcast suddenly said emphatically that had the hurricane not turned that slight amount when it did last night, the damage to Central Florida could have been much more severe. WOW!
Please be assured that in sharing in this, I am in no way trying to claim that my prayers (and those of the many others in Florida and elsewhere who I assume had also been praying) caused God to make Hurricane Matthew to make that very slight turn. What God does in His mercy and will He does in His sovereignty but there is no question in my mind that He does move in regards to the prayers of His people. (If you are even a casual Bible reader, you have a historical record of how this is true. And besides, there are many instances throughout history where others have noted such things happening.)
I write this mainly to encourage the reader that God DOES respond to our intercession. As I state in the prayer section at the beginning of each blog post: "Prayer is inviting God into a seemingly impossible situation and trusting/resting in His love and grace to accomplish His perfect will in His perfect time and for His greatest glory."
May we each be challenged to take more time to intercede for our family, friends, nation, and the world a lot more than any of us are in the habit of doing. Even when the situation seems "impossible," may we "invite God" into that situation and trust Him to do what would bring Him the greatest glory. Though our faith may falter when doing so, let us be faithful to simply PRAY. Because truly, – NOTHING is impossible with God! (Luke 1:37)
P.S. - It goes without saying that we need to be PRAYING for the many for whom Hurricane Matthew brought great destruction to their property, esp. those who lost a loved one, and those who are still living without electrical power. We also need to be PRAYING too for those living in other areas north of Florida who have still not faced all that this hurricane would bring upon them.
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