This past Sunday on 05/31/21, we heard the Word that prayer is more powerful than an atomic bomb. Immediately this idea struck me deeply because it was incredibly novel and very profound. When we generally think of these two things, prayer and nuclear weapons, they aren’t really things that we compare to one another. So in what way could they be compared? Why did this resonate with me?
It’s because this idea was something I had been thinking about for a long time. For so long I grappled with this question of how people who are divided could come together in peace. I had felt that the answer to this question came from Isaiah 11:1 – 10. Where it talks about how on God’s Holy Mountain the wolf will live with the lamb, the calf and the lion will lie down together, and young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest – They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.
The Branch From Jesse
God’s Holy Mountain
11 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush,[b] from Elam, from Babylonia,[c] from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.
This passage shows that through the Lord, through his Word, through believing in him and coming together with him we who were like these different animals, natural enemies, prey and predator, wild and domesticated, and dangerous and docile were all able to co-exist, were all able to use our individual uniqueness to each other’s benefits and to create Heaven on Earth.
When I thought about this I saw what the power of Love, what the power of truth could do to the world, what it could do to nations, what it could do to people, and what it could do to myself. Through the Word, through the Lord, and through the acts that come hand in hand with knowing and loving the Lord our lives completely change. Malice and malevolence, bitterness and resentment, darkness and iniquity all vanish without a trace.
And the message in this one line. Prayer is more powerful than an atomic bomb – held all the power and meaning of the many streams of consciousness that I had been feeling about the Word, about prayer, and about what being one with God does to a person and to the world.
Prayer is something that changes us to the core and changes us from within ourselves.
This is such a powerful thing. Changing someone is one of the most difficult things conceivable. Generally, if the person themselves isn’t willing to change it’s not something you can force from the outside without great effort and sacrifice. You can lead a horse to water time and time again but you can’t make it drink if it doesn’t want to.
When you pray sincerely, when you put yourself aside for a moment and concentrate on praying to God whether it’s to thank him, to repent, to converse with him, to confess that you’re lost and need guidance, or to ask for strength – you yourself change as a consequence of your prayer.
You might not see a tremendous change right away, but from that one seed, your life starts to change. Your heart and thoughts start to change. From that, your actions start to change in small everyday choices and later in life-defining moments. When we think about the gospels of Matthew and Luke we think about how Jesus compared even the kingdom of God to be like the mustard seed. From that tiny origin, it becomes a history that encompasses the Earth for 2000 years. So this isn’t superficial change. Superficial stimuli last momentarily, they don’t stay with you after the immediate effect is gone. Human-centered principles end on the Earth. But conversation with God elevates you above the limitations of human beings.
When we pray we change.
Atomic Weapons
Atomic weapons, weapons in general, and any products or actions of mankind designed for war and conflict all come to bitter ends.
There are so many movies and books centered around the idea of Nuclear Holocaust or that take place in a dystopian world following all-out nuclear warfare. And whenever I watch them I really feel that they don’t strike at the core of reality. When they write the narrative of human history they take the power of the Word lightly, they take the power of Love lightly, and they take the power of God lightly.
More than prayer, more than this power that fundamentally changes us from the inside we think that these weapons are powerful, that they are destructive, that when they go off the world as we know it would be completely changed. We think that these weapons will tear the skies asunder, level nations, raze the land, and turn the oceans to ashes. We expect, we perceive, and some might even hope that the world will be changed through nuclear weapons.
But change in the world is already happening. It’s happening through prayer.
The works we build with our hands without God inevitably end in destruction and in dust. Where do the acts of the flesh take us? Galatians 5 states this for us in clear and easy terms:
Galatians 5:19 states that The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Tower or Babel
Of course, this isn’t to say human beings shouldn’t strive in their utmost to improve the human condition and the lives of their loved ones and themselves. But it’s to say that no matter what great things you might do, if you’re lacking the core thing, then you’ve failed to do the work that is the most important.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 states that:
13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
And in an even more famous scripture Jesus had this iconic conversation:
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[b] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
On the other hand when we do things with this core thing. When we pray and do things together with God and in love we are able to bear fruit that sustains us and that changes the world in a way that even 1,000s of nuclear weapons could not hope to accomplish.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Prayer as a clear and conscious action, as a power that human beings can use, and as a gift that God has given to human beings is truly more powerful than nuclear weapons.
Lord's Light of Love Church 