It’s easy to get discouraged. 

I look around at all the brokenness in our country and in the world, and I sometimes think, “How could this ever change? What does it matter if I work, give, pray, volunteer, advocate, vote, recycle, and shop local? The problems are too big. The systems are too broken. I’m just one person.” 

And it’s true, the problems are way too big for me. BUT GOD…

God is powerful. And the problems that overwhelm me aren’t too hard for Him. For me, it’s so important to spend just as much time worshipping God as I do scrolling through angry Facebook rants and BBC news headlines. It keeps me grounded in the truth: God is powerful.

Our brothers and sisters in the Majority World experience the same discouragement, except more personally. I get discouraged reading about injustice. Often, they are experiencing injustice. While I’m sick over the corruption in my country, I don’t live in a daily reality where bribes are required to get basic services. Many people do. And while I believe in spiritual warfare, I don’t experience it the way that seems commonplace among those we work with in Africa and Asia. We’ve heard many stories of communities where witchcraft is something real and fearful. Where curses have power. Where spirits must be appeased. 

Wherever we live, whether we’re rich or poor, the truth that God is powerful is not just a happy thought for a coffee mug. It can change everything. Here are some examples from our TCT churches of what happens when God’s power is made visible: 

In one community there was a piece of land that had been in dispute between two families. One family took possession of the land, so the other family had a witch doctor curse it. The land became infertile. No one could grow anything on it; every crop died. For years it was bought and sold at incredibly cheap rates, each person believing that if only they used the right fertilizer it would produce. And yet, no matter what methods anyone tried, the land wouldn’t grow. One day, the pastor of the local church felt like God told him to buy the land. Even though it was a huge leap of faith to invest what little money he had in bad land, he wanted to be obedient to God. So he bought the land. Those in the church worked together to plant the land, and that year it grew five times as much as any other land in the area. God showed Himself more powerful than witchcraft!

(We recently posted another story out of DR Congo where the church’s Act of Love convinced the whole community that God is more powerful than witches. If you missed it, check it out on Facebook.

In another area of about 20 farming villages, the local buyers colluded to cheat the farmers. They got together and agreed to all offer 20% less per kilo for the crops. A price cut like this would be a disaster for families who were already barely surviving from harvest to harvest. The local pastor prayed about the situation and felt that God told him to buy all the crops. Even though God didn’t tell him how he would pay for all the crops, he obediently went around to every family and offered to buy their crops at full price. So, at harvest time, everyone brought their crops to him and the pastor stored them. Shortly, the factories were looking for crops to process, and, of course, the buyers had none. The factories heard that this pastor had the crops, so they contacted him and bought all of it directly for ten percent more than the farmers had gotten in the past. This pastor’s act of obedience showed the community that God can overcome corrupt human powers.

(We recently posted a video: Fixing Roads in Burkina Faso, which shares another story of God’s power to sway a government. Check it out!) 

Hopefully these stories encourage you the way they do me. This month please join us in praying that God’s people will know God’s power. Pray:

  • For churches to have the opportunity to learn the truth that God is powerful. Pray that, as they step out in obedience to love and serve their communities, they would have new experiences of God’s power to deliver them from evil.
  • For those from animistic and other faith backgrounds to witness God’s power on behalf of His church. Pray that many would choose to serve our powerful God. 
  • That the power of evil spirits would be broken in communities where people live with witchcraft as a daily reality.
  • For those who hold human positions of power and authority to submit to the lordship of Christ. Pray that they would seek His kingdom and His righteousness, and that they would humble themselves before Him.