BYM ONLINE DESK Blessing e magazine May 2019 | Page 12

May 2019 | www.bymonline.org
Page 12
God. When the answer came, the king said to Daniel,
“Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of
kings and a Revealer of mysteries” (2:47).
enemies. “And many people of other nationalities
became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized
them” (8:17). This is the power of the small group
that can change the course of history.
3. Mary and fellow believers
We see another praying group in a home, in the
New Testament (Acts 12:12). Herod killed James
with a sword. When it pleased the Jews he put Peter
too in prison. “But the church was earnestly praying
to God for him” (v5). The church was not sleeping. It
did not organize a strike or prepare a petition to be
presented to Herod. They gathered in a house and
prayed. They just prayed!
What happened when they prayed?
If the king of a heathen nation could say that,
you can imagine the impact this little flock had made
on that nation. The king decreed, “The people of any
nation or language who say anything against the
God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut
into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of
rubble, for no other God can save in this
way”(3:29). Yes, the small group generated great
power and accomplished a mighty task.
2. Esther and her maids
An angel was released from heaven to do what
the poor church members could not do against the
king's power. Angel took Peter past the first guard
and then the second guard. When they came to the
Iron Gate which was leading to the city… it opened
like the 20th century automatic doors! Peter was out
of prison, on the streets!
Can you believe it? All because of a home
prayer cell.
Again the setting is captivity. A captive girl
was made queen of a heathenish kingdom. But she
did not compromise her faith. Wherever God's
people are, there will be enemies. The enemy played
a trick and a date was set to destroy God's people.
The situation seemed hopeless. Letters of execution
were already sent. Can anyone reverse what was
already done? Yes, a small united group of people
could.
Esther, though the queen, was not ashamed to
kneel down with her maids. The heavily laden
banquet table languished for three days and nights as
Esther and her maids fasted. What was the effect of
the prayer of this small group? It was a chain
reaction reversing the king's order. It did not stop
with that. The prayer slaughtered the enemy. The
king lost his sleep and happened to read the history
of his rule. The little flock's prayer directed him to
the page where it was written about Mordecai. So
Mordecai was honoured. Then Haman was hanged
and the king's order to massacre the Jews was
cancelled. The Jews were granted to subjugate their
The church has failed in this area miserably. It
has failed to encourage its' members to gather in
homes in twos and threes to pray. Churches are jam-
packed for Sunday worship services. But how good
are the members in intercession? Our churches have
not learnt the art of prayer. The early Christians were
gathering and praying wherever possible. Let
churches take up the challenge to form small groups.
Such small praying groups have been responsible
for the outbreak of great revivals.
4. Lydia and her friends
Some women regularly gathered by the