Weekly Message

Where is the Power of the Church
by Rev. James Wong

“Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means 'rock'), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it” (Matt 16:18 NLT).

According to Jesus Christ, the church is the strongest organization in the world. The church that he builds will have the power to conquer hell. Why is this so? Because wherever the Good News of Jesus Christ is preached it will bring life to those who receive it by faith. Eternal life can only be given by the creator of life, the Almighty God.

But what about the church today? How can we witness the power of the church today? The church buildings today can cause an awareness of the church presence in the society but it does not mean the church is powerful. Some churches are empty of people. Its empirical power lies in the prayer life of its members.

For example, Daniel was fasting and praying for 21days and during which time a spiritual warfare was going on in the heavenlies. An angel said to Daniel: “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.” (Daniel 10:12). God heard Daniel’s prayer.

Spiritual warfare is very real. God has given us the appropriate weapons for war. “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete” (2 Cor. 10:4-6 NIV).
Prayer and intercession are great spiritual weapons. As Daniel prayed, warring angels were dispatched to make sure the message of God was delivered to the earth (Dan. 10:13-14). Satan was there to hinder the work of God but he was defeated by prayer.

In the New Testament, we also see how Satan constantly tried to hinder the work of God from advancing. In Acts 12, Peter was arrested and the enemy tried to keep him in prison in an attempt to stop the gospel from spreading. However constant prayer was offered to God for him by the Church (12:5). As the Church prayed, Peter was loosed from his chains (12:7) and he continued to lead the church in advancing the gospel.

Today, the power of the church lies in the prayer life of its members. The transformation of lives, salvation, miracles and healing, revival of the church and the advancement of the gospel can only happen when God’s people pray. Let us never take prayer lightly. Pray daily, fast one meal on Wednesday and come for the Thursday Morning prayer meeting from 6:45am-7:30am. “Pray, and let God worry” said Martin Luther.