Worn Out Knees: Living a Yielded Life by Prayer
In his book, “Does Prayer Make a Difference”, Phillip Yancy gives this account of the power of prayer:
The city of Leipzig, Germany, had been the scene of a violent protest against Communist rule in 1953. But the protest was crushed by force. In four decades of fighting against Communist rule in East Germany, nothing changed behind the Iron Curtain. But in 1989, something happened that turned it in another direction. A group of Christians began meeting in a church where Johann Sebastian Bach used to play the organ. They began to hold candlelight prayer marches. The marches began very small but then grew: 10,000 marchers, then 30,000, then 50,000, then a half-million in Leipzig, and a million more in Berlin. And finally, in November 1989, the Berlin wall itself, the reviled symbol of the Iron Curtain, yielded to a different kind of power and came crashing down in a million pieces.
What force and violence could not do, prayer did
The power of prayer!
When Jesus was about to depart this earth, he told his disciples that they would do “greater works” than he did
His disciples would do greater works by the power of prayer
John 14:12–14 (ESV)
12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
- We Can Expect Greater Works
If someone were to hear us as Christians talk about doing greater works than Jesus, they might think it was arrogant
But it was Jesus himself who said his followers would do such greater works than he
We will not do greater physical miracles, but Christians have the capability to do more and greater spiritual miracles that would be based in a life of prayer
In John 14, Jesus is preparing His disciples for the time when he would no longer be standing in front of them
He had already told them that he would soon depart
And part of the His preparation to depart was to tell his disciples to pray
Prayer is how you and I do the greater works
You and I can be a part of these greater works by our prayer relationship with God the Father because we are connected to Jesus!
Some have said that we can do greater works, greater things for Jesus if we have enough faith
But Jesus said that those who believe him would have greater works
What do you mean?
Can we change water into wine? Raise the dead? Walk on water?
As great as all those miracles Jesus did while he was here…they were only temporary
Jesus said what we would do would have an even greater impact than what he had done
- How Greater Works Can Happen
Jesus tied the greater works to His return to heaven
We see that in v12, where Jesus said that we would do greater works because He was returning to the father
The disciples at that time were probably wondering, how will it be possible if Jesus is gone?
It would be possible, because after Jesus ascended back to heaven, He would send the Holy Spirit to us
You and I, when we received Jesus Christ as our Savior, were filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit
It is by the HS that we can do greater works and this power is accessed when we pray!
Greater works in the power of the HS, by the power of our prayers!
But to carry this a little farther, I want you to consider:
- How Greater Works Are Possible
As I have just said, we access power to do greater works through prayer
Jesus said:
John 14:13 (ESV)
13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Again, greater works are possible because we have the Holy Spirit in us
That’s not how it’s always been
Just like God has always existed, and Jesus has always existed, the HS has always existed
But back in the OT, the HS worked differently.
In the OT, for example, whenever God gave one of his prophets a message to deliver, He anointed them or covered them with his HS
But in the NT, after Jesus went to the cross, rose from the dead and ascended back to Heaven…he would send his HS to “indwell” all those who believed and received Jesus
It is the indwelling HS who makes the difference in our lives
It is better to have Jesus within us through the Spirit than to have the Spirit beside us
And with Him living in us, we can do greater works as we call on him through prayer
- Why Our Works Are Greater
Simply put, Jesus was confined to a human body when he was here
He was limited to a very small geographic area that we call the Holy Land today
Martin Luther put it well when he said:
“For Christ took but a little corner for himself to preach and to work miracles, and but a little time; whereas the apostles and their followers have spread themselves through the whole world.”[1]
In less than 300 years after Jesus ascended to Heaven, the ministry He entrusted to 11 disciples spread through the entire Roman Empire
Jesus’ work spread to millions in a short amount of time
And today, Christianity is world-wide!
Also, our work is greater because it is long lasting
For example, it was truly miraculous for Jesus to give sight to blind eyes, to cleanse a leper, to give hearing and speech to a deaf and mute person
It was miraculous to see the dead raised
But it is even greater, when we share the gospel with someone and see a person blinded by sin to see and understand their need for Jesus
And then for them to receive Jesus and have their hearts cleansed of sin and for them to proclaim the gospel to others
Yes, it is a greater work to see the spiritually dead raised to new life in Christ!
Today we take for granted the spiritual miracles that are done in our lives
We are more fascinated by the possibility of a physical healing
But what will matter the most a hundred or even a million years from now?
It will matter if a person is saved
It will matter if a person knows Jesus
It will matter eternally if you know Jesus now
Those of us that are saved, let’s do greater works than Jesus through the power of his HS, by the power of prayer
And let’s tell others about him!
[1] Jeremiah, D. (2007). Signs of Life (Study Guide) (p. 48). San Diego, CA: Thomas Nelson Publishers.