“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”  James 5:16

How many times have we read this verse in James and brushed over it? Often we love to read the word, but do we actually take it in, meditate on it and believe it? The passage goes on to say that Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed for the rain to stop and it stopped! He prayed for the rain to start and it started!

Do you know that you are a righteous person if you have believed in Jesus Christ for your salvation? 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Romans 5:19 declare this. In becoming a righteous person, what you pray has great effect!

Intercessory prayer has been part of my life for more than a decade now. I know that God desires to use me in intercessory prayer as part of his Kingdom purposes, but sometimes I need waking up to see the impact I can actually have through prayer! The Lord graciously woke me up in 2014 on a trip to India. One night I had a dream that powerfully impacted me and my future direction. In this dream, I was at a Christian festival. People were having a great time dancing and worshipping the Lord when, all of a sudden, a loud speaker announcement was overheard instructing everyone to get back to their tents and prepare to take shelter. A tornado was coming our way! We all sought shelter in an open shed, using our sleeping mattresses to cover us. I rose up and said “everybody, start praying!” I got those attending the festival to start praying powerful Spirit led prayers and when that tornado was headed directly towards us, it split in two and went on either side of us! There was some slight damage to the shelter but all of us were spared.

This dream reminded me of the call on my life to mobilise people in prayer. I desire others to understand that we have power in prayer to create change in what are seemingly hopeless situations. I don’t know where you are from, but here in Darwin youth crime is out of control with incarceration rates of young indigenous males through the roof. Our juvenile detention centre even made international headlines for its treatment of incarcerated young people. As a result, a royal commission was established. People in our community can’t see that anything will change. We know ALL things are possible for God and that as we partner with Him in prayer, we can see this situation change. Will you join with me in praying for young people such as these – and believe that our prayers are creating change and moving storms as we pray?

Lyndal Walker

Regional Team Leader

Northern Territory, Australia