“I’m the answer to your prayer. That’s why I was sent down here.”
—Clarence, the angel, after George tells him “I got bust in the jaw in answer to a prayer.”
People definitely need to learn the posture and power of prayer. Prayer is communion with God and the time to align our lives with his will. We can tell God everything, because he already knows the Truth. There is no one in this world who is as understanding, loving, and wise as our Father in heaven.
When we pray, we are keeping his name exalted and holy—honoring his right to guide our lives toward his righteous presence and purpose. When we ask for God’s will in our lives and in our circumstances, we are opening the door for the resources of grace only he can give. Our faith in God brings him glory!
In our lesson from the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” we witness George praying as he feels like he cannot fall any lower. He is finally at the end of his human strength and ability. Have you ever felt that way? George is unaware, but other people are praying for him at the same time. There is power in the prayers of agreement.
The scene reveals George in his desperation at Martini’s Restaurant and having too much to drink—trying to escape the torment in his soul. George prays, “I’m at the end of my rope…please show me the way, God!” When George finally utters God’s hame, the Lord hears his prayer and the prayers of others and responds. However, not the way George expects. Which is not unusual since our thoughts are not God’s thoughts or ways (Isa. 55:8-9).
Now Satan does not like it when God’s children pray, so evil finds a willing host who is already sinfully angry at George. Satan uses this angry man, Mr. Welch, to punch George in the mouth as retribution for disrespecting his wife—Zuzu’s [George’s daughter] schoolteacher. “That’s what I get for praying,” is George’s response.
George leaves the restaurant, gets in his car, hits a tree while driving, angrily leaves the car and walks to a bridge with the intent to jump when he meets his guardian angel, Clarence. The angel tells George that he is the answer to his prayers. “That’s why I was sent down here!” says, Clarence.
George becomes so distraught and irrational he shouts, “I wish I had never been born.” George is then taken on a “no George born” journey and given glimpses of life without him. It takes awhile, but George—frightened and distraught by the Truth—prays again, “Please, God, let me live again!”
Giving us new life is God’s specialty and that is exactly what George receives when he asks for salvation. Hope returns to his soul. No longer does George desire to look down from the bridge of despair. Instead, he begins to look up to commune with his Rescuer. George receives a new life with a new perspective and a new will to live for God’s loving purposes. He is a new man who identifies the Truth of God.
OT Reading: Psalm 145:18 NLT “The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.”
OT Reading: Jeremiah 29:11 NLT “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
NT Reading: Matthew 7:7-8 NLT “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
NT Reading: James 5:13 NLT The Power of Prayer “Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.”
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need [life’s essentials],
and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen (Mat 6:9-13).