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hour, for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11). Blessings abound when the Holy Spirit works through us, rather than instead of us or in spite of us. In addition to normal and available, see finally that Elijah was influential, both before God and among people. His influence be fore God sprang from his prayers.The Bible says, “he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months, then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit” (James 5:17,18). Moses comes to mind when considering faithful servants who influenced God through prayer.When he was atop Mt. Sinai receiv ing the Law, the Israelites grew impatient, fashioning and worship ping a golden calf. God’s anger burned to such a point that He was ready to destroy these wayward people. Moses then entreated the Lord, recalling His previous promises and asking Him to reconsid er. “So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people” (Exodus 32:14). Satan would like us to think that such an opportunity is reserved for the “saints” of the world, yet nothing could be further from the truth. Prayer is both a potent privilege and weighty weap on available to all believers. Certainly there’s nothing we talk about more, yet do less of than prayer, despite promises like this one from the Lord to Jeremiah. “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3) . Six centuries later, Jesus preached in the Sermon on the Mount, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). It was once said, “If you depend on organization, you get what organization can do; if you depend on money, you get what money can do; if you depend on education, you get what educa-

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