The Power of Prayer

“Prayer is the breath of the soul.” “Prayer is the means by which we call upon God’s power.” “If we pray earnestly, God will surely answer us.”

These are words I have heard countless times. I knew the importance of prayer and always sought God’s help. Yet it was during my military service that I came to understand more deeply how we should pray and just how powerful prayer truly is.

After being assigned to my unit, I worked hard at every task entrusted to me, whether it was training or work details. Most of the officers and senior soldiers thought well of me, but there were also some who disapproved of me. The main reason was that I attended the Church of God and worshiped on Saturdays and Tuesdays, unlike most others. At first, whenever people spoke negatively about my faith, I brushed it off, thinking that they would eventually stop. But one senior soldier never hid his displeasure whenever I left to attend worship, and at times, he even became openly angry. No matter how I explained that my worship was based on the teachings of the Bible, he refused to listen. He was a devout Christian in his own way and was probably acting out of concern for me. Even so, I could not help feeling hurt. I had done nothing wrong, yet the criticism continued. Little by little, I found myself growing more withdrawn.

That day, I attended the Tuesday worship service with a heavy heart. As it happened, the sermon was about prayer. The message was that prayer brings about God’s mighty work and that all the prophets of faith received His blessings through prayer. As I listened, I realized that what I needed most was prayer. Until then, my prayers had been neither earnest nor specific. More often than not, they were little more than routine prayers asking God simply to let everything go well.

Looking back, I deeply regretted that I had not brought everything before God in prayer, sought His help, and relied on His power to boldly share the truth with my fellow soldiers. I felt deeply sorry before God.

“[W]hatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mk 11:24).

I engraved those words on my heart and made a firm resolve: I would believe that God would answer my prayer and keep praying until He did. After earnestly praying that the senior soldier would come to recognize how precious the truth of the new covenant is, I returned to the barracks with renewed determination.

A few days later, something remarkable happened. The senior soldier called me over and said that from then on, he would help make sure that I could attend worship. I stood there speechless with surprise. He said that seeing me remain steadfast in my faith despite all the negative things he had said had shown him that my faith was sincere. At that moment, I remembered the prayer I had offered to God. Only then did I realize that God had been waiting for me to pray earnestly and had already prepared the answer to my heartfelt prayer. Not long afterward, before a major field exercise, one of the officers asked me to pray on behalf of the entire unit. So I prayed in the name of our Heavenly Father, asking for His blessings upon everyone. All of this showed me the power of prayer.

Even after the senior soldier completed his military service, we have stayed in touch. We made plans to meet after I was discharged, and he agreed to listen to my truth presentation. Although he still finds it difficult to accept the truth, I earnestly pray that he will receive the message of salvation with an open heart. I believe God will answer this prayer as well, and I will keep praying until He does.