The Grands Letter (1 Kgs/GLJ)
Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D. on February 18, 2026 5:24 am (CST)
Dear Grands,
1 Kings 8:44-45, “When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way You shall send them, and they pray to the LORD toward the city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name,
45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause.”
We all have battles. The circumstances often vary in multiple ways. Some are verbal in nature. Here we merely seek to outmaneuver others through the utilization of superior speech. Other battles may be of a psychological nature, where we are required to convince an opponent that we are right by displaying superior cleverness in speech. Some battles, however, require true mental and physical strength. Whatever the nature of the encounter, we do well to rely upon the supreme, superior wisdom of the LORD by way of humble prayer!
I believe it is true that there were honest, spiritual believers on both sides of America’s Civil War (the War Between the States) who believed in and practiced prayer. Undoubtedly, some prayed because that was all they knew to do. How the LORD receives such prayer, we will never know this side of Heaven – if even then! Yet, it is a serious acknowledgment of the existence of the Supreme Being. Surely, that counts for something in His sight.
Tennyson reminds us that “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” We will do well, as the old hymn says, to “take it to the LORD and leave it there.” Pray for your neighbors, for your pastors, for your relatives. There is no power on earth like the power of prayer!
Heartily in Christ,
Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
United States of America
“We will never know that Christ is all we need, until He becomes all that we have.” –Corrie ten Boom
