When "All" Is Enough

Barbara Brinkworth

“Well, I guess all we can do is pray.”

Often, this statement is heard when people are at the end of their rope. They have done all they can do to fix a problem. They have knocked on every door of opportunity available to them. They have acted out every possible solution to a problem.

Isn’t it strange they did not get to the point of prayer sooner? If they really believed that there was a God in heaven who answers prayer, prayer would have been the first step in changing a situation or solving a problem. Well, there is a God in Heaven that answers prayer!

All through the Bible, God gives evidence of direct answers to prayer. In many of these situations, prayer was not only “all” that could be done; it was what should have been done first. Prayer was always the solution to the problem at hand. It was enough. Some biblical examples are:

In I Samuel 1:10-13, Hannah prayed that God would open her womb, that she might have a child to dedicate to Him. She had been barren for some time, and all she could do was pray. Prayer was more than enough to meet her need. Not only did God give her a son, Samuel, whom she dedicated to the Lord; He also gave her three more sons and two daughters (I Sam 2:21).
Elijah told Ahab (I Kings 17:1) that there would be no rain or even dew for three-and-a-half years. Eventually, there was no more food. A widow and her son thought they would die because of the famine (I Kings 17:12). God supernaturally fed them, as well as Elijah, for the remainder of the three-and-a-half years. At the end of that time, Elijah had proven to the Baal worshippers who was the true and living God, and it was now time for the drought to end. Elijah, himself, could not make it rain. All he could do was pray and ask God for the rain. In I Kings 18:42, he did just that. In verse 45, the rain not only came, but it was a “…great rain…” more than enough to end the drought.
King Hezekiah was sick unto death, as told in II Kings 20:1. He went to the Lord, and begged for more time after Isaiah told him that he would die. In verse 6, the prophet Isaiah returned to the king, and told him that God had heard and answered his prayer. He would be given fifteen more years of life.
In Acts 7, we learn of Stephen, one of the first deacons. Because of his stand for the Messiah, he was stoned by the Jews. Before he died, he asked God to “… lay not this sin to their charge …” (Acts 9:3-6). God answered that prayer by allowing Saul of Tarsus (Paul), one of the men at the stoning, to be saved and go on to write many books of the New Testament.
Jesus prayed many times during His earthly ministry. While on the cross, he prayed "… Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do …” (Luke 23:34). God answered that prayer by allowing many Jews to be saved after the resurrection. Although the Romans actually crucified Jesus, it was the Jews who demanded that he be killed (Luke 23:21). That did not keep God from saving them, however, when they called on His Son in faith for salvation.

There are many more biblical stories that could be told of the power of prayer. Suffice to say that the next time someone says to you, ”Well, I guess all you can do now is pray”; I hope you will say to them with confidence, “Great, because I know that is enough.”