The Power Of Grace

Article by Rita Langeland

On the third day, the woman, who had not walked for 12 years, walked out of the mud hut under her own power!

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

In Christian circles, the word “grace” as used in the New Testament, has often been defined as the “unmerited favor of God.” While this is an accurate portrayal of one important aspect of this amazing word - it is only one characteristic of a very multi-faceted concept.

If you are a born-again Christian, you know that it was grace - the unmerited favor of God - that drew you out of the pit of sin, cleansed you, forgave you and placed you in right standing with God. You didn’t earn His favor by any good works on your part - it was unmerited. If you are not a Christian - then it is God’s grace that is calling to you right now.

But once you have made that leap into relationship with God - it is His grace that will empower you to walk with God, to desire the things of God instead of the things of the world, and give you strength to live a life that is pleasing to God. Many people fear to surrender their lives to God because they know they have no power inside themselves to resist temptation. They know they will not be able to withstand the old patterns of sin that have become a familiar part of their lives. What they don’t know, (but need to know) is that God’s grace provides the power that they desperately need! I like to define this aspect of grace as “power to do things God’s way.”

Before I was born again, I remember thinking that I would never be able to stay married to one man. As a University student, I dated many different men and when I became bored in one relationship, I would simply move on to another. I thought, at that time, that such a pattern of behavior would certainly prevent me from staying married successfully to the same person, so I decided that it would probably be better if I stayed single.

But after giving my life to Christ, everything in my heart changed, including my desires. Instead of desiring to stay single so I could date as many men as I wanted, I began to desire a godly husband with whom I could spend the rest of my life serving God. I had received God’s grace - power to do things His way. And I found God’s grace to be more than sufficient! I have been faithfully married for 29 years to the same man and wouldn’t have it any other way.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9 the Apostle Paul wrote: But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Grace will supply power to your area of weakness so that you can do what God what wants you to do. So whatever struggle you are having, you can ask God for His grace for that particular area of your life.

There is another facet of grace that Pastor Jim Cobrae of the Rock Church defines as: “God’s sovereign ability to get the job done on our behalf when we can’t do it.” If you pray for a sick person and they are healed, that is an operation of the grace of God - God’s sovereign ability - not your own. If you minister to prisoners, or build an orphanage or support missions work with your finances - that is all the grace of God at work. And God desires for us to operate in that grace every single day. He wants us to see the supernatural happening all the time in our lives, because God desires to display His grace to the world.

I just returned from Tanzania where I witnessed this aspect of God’s grace - “God’s sovereign ability to get the job done on our behalf when we can’t do it.” My friend, Maasai pastor Zablon Laizer, had been approached by the wife of a local witchdoctor, to pray for her sister who had been ill for 15 years. For 12 of those years, the woman had been unable to walk. She had been taken by her family to all of the leading witchdoctors in the Maasai community in Tanzania for healing, but she had only grown worse. By the time she was brought to Pastor Zablon for prayer, her limbs were contracted into a fetal position and she was a mere skeleton.

Pastor Zablon prayed for the woman, who had been carried out of a hut and laid on an animal skin on the ground. He instructed the family to bring cooking oil so that her limbs could be massaged while he prayed for her. He had an older woman massage her joints as he prayed. He left her after a few hours and told the family he would return the next day. In the morning, he was back at the Maasai boma repeating the same process, praying as the woman’s feet, knees and hands were massaged with oil. He left after a few hours, telling the family he would return in the morning. On the third day, the woman, who had not walked for 12 years, walked out of the mud hut under her own power. The family was astounded! They ran to the entrance of their homestead, and when Pastor Zablon drove up on his motorcycle, they were screaming, “Pastor! Pastor! She is walking! She is walking!”
This aspect of God’s grace - His divine ability to get the job done - was certainly operating that day! I arrived in the area with a missions team a few days later and met the formerly paralyzed woman. We prayed together for her mind to be restored, as she had lost all concern for her husband and children during the course of her long illness. The day after we prayed for her memory, she woke up and asked her sister, “Where are my children and why am I here?” Her sister later told Pastor Zablon, that it was the first time she had asked about her children in more than 10 years.

God’s grace is powerful and it is available to you. Hebrews 4:16 exhorts us to go “boldly” to the throne of God’s grace where we can obtain His grace for our need. Do you need “power to do things His way?” Or do you need “God’s supernatural ability to get the job done when you can’t do it?” Both aspects of His grace are available for the asking. God wants your life to reflect the power of His grace so that you can become “a life that grace built!”

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:1

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