The Choice of Rowing or Crying Out
When a hurricane force storm overtook the disciples, they rowed with all their might. Only when they realized that they were going to drown did they cry out to the Lord.
Jesus cried out against the wind and the waves; and, instantly, there was a calm.
Then he rebuked his disciples for their lack of faith, because they could have cried out against the storm based on the words of Jesus, “. . . Let us go over unto the other side of the lake . . ." (Luke 8:22). He did not say, “Let us go to the middle of the lake and drown." Every cry must be based on God’s Word.
The Authority
of a Cry
Crying out is actually calling on God to fulfill His own Word. For example, after 400 years, Israel cried out to be delivered from Egypt. God heard their cry because He said to Abraham, “. . . Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;" (Genesis 15:13).
Why a Cry is
So Powerful
If a mother or father is working on a project, and their baby begins to whimper, the parent will probably finish the task and then go over to see what the baby needs. However, if their baby lets out a scream, the parent will drop whatever he or she is doing, rush over, and attend to whatever needs to be done.
We Must Cry Out
to God
On a cold winter night, a father drove over a patch of ice and his car spun around toward a ditch. He cried out to God for deliverance and later said, “It was a like a giant hand took hold of my car and set it back on the road in the right direction.
A few minutes later, he encountered another patch of ice and began sliding toward the ditch. This time he cried out, “Oh, no!" and crashed into the ditch.
God states, ". . . Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me" (Psalm 50:15).
The Power of Crying Out
Several important factors must be understood on the matter of crying out to God. First, and foremost, we must realize that crying out to God is not a “gimmick" or "formula." It is a sincere expression of our total dependence upon God and an appeal for Him to demonstrate His love, mercy, and mighty power on our behalf.
This book not only explains these concepts but also provides many firsthand accounts of the results of crying out to God.
The Power of Crying Out
What Happens When We Cry Out to God?
Dr. Skip Rath
Hundreds of children are in the world today because of the successful reversal surgeries of Dr. Skip Rath from New Braunfels, Texas. However, in 1998, he was diagnosed to be in the final stage of a fast growing cancer that had already spread to his bones. Ten thousand youth and adults at the Annual Advanced Training Institute Conference cried out to God for Dr. Rath, and God healed him.
Miguel and Ada
At this same conference, the attendees cried out to God for Miguel and Ada to have a child after years of barrenness. God answered their cry, and soon, Mariangel was born. Then, after five more years of no children, a team of fifty ATI students on a Great Expedition to Mexico stayed at their hotel, and Miguel’s mother appealed to the group to cry out to God for another child. They did, and God gave them Miguel junior.
Darlene Bass
When Darlene was five years old, she began to experience intense pain. Doctor after doctor was baffled. At age twenty-six, Darlene was under so much pain that she tried to take her life. During a Total Health Conference she learned about power of crying out and asked that it be done for her. The entire group cried out and God healed her—after sixty-nine years of unrelenting pain. She then cried for joy!
Hundreds of additional examples could be given of God’s miraculous working when groups of “one accord” believers cried out to God for a person who was in crisis.
Why is Crying out So Powerful?
Jay and Nicie Philips
and their two children
Tucker (12) and Talie (6)
Jay and Nicie Philips and their seven year old son, Tucker, had prayed for five years for Nicie to have another child, but nothing happened. The day that they learned about the power of crying out, the three of them cried out to God, “O God, give us another child– and make it a girl!”
A few days later, Talie was conceived, and then, they received a letter from a fertility clinic that they had visited before crying out to God. It informed them that due to a physical condition in the husband, they would not be able to have any more children. Nine months later, Talie was born– the girl they prayed for!
Why was five years of their praying not effective? The answer is found in James 5:18, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” The word "availeth" means "makes much power available." The problem with much of our praying is that it is not fervent enough. We also make requests when we know that there are things in our life that are displeasing to God, and Scripture warns, ”If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18).
What Does a Cry Represent?
1. Unconditional Surrender
A crisis often comes as a result of rejecting or resisting God’s will in our life. The purpose of the crises is then to bring us to a total surrender of our will to God’s will. It is like saying, “O God, you win!” But actually, we win because God’s will is what we would choose if we knew all the facts.
2. Recognition of Weakness
It is very difficult for us to say that we cannot do something. It is especially difficult for a man to admit that he is helpless, because the tendency of a man is to be self- sufficient. God loves us. Love is based on a recognition of mutual need; so, God brings situations into our life that are totally beyond our strength, resources, and wisdom.
3. Desperation for Deliverance
A cry is based on the awareness that if God does not deliver us, serious consequences will occur. When we have exhausted every human possibility, it is time to cry out. However, this means that we must first remove any stress that blocks our relationship to God. Asa developed an incurable disease; but, because he was angry with God, he refused to cry out for what only God could do. Instead, he trusted in the medical cures of his day and died. (See II Chronicles 16:12.)
4. Acknowledgment of God’s Power
We affirm through our cry that God is the only one who has the power and resources to deliver us. This is a concept that we should always have. God may use other means to deliver, but it is ultimately God that does it. If our expectation is on anyone else, we make them an idol expecting from them what only God can do.
How Often Must We Cry Out?
We have witnessed hundreds of miraculous results after only one time of crying out. However, Jesus explains in His parable of the unjust judge that several cries may be required: “There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city [under His jurisdiction]; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said... because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him” (Luke 18:2-7).
How Many are Required to Cry Out?
As long as Moses held up his hands (symbolic of prayer), Israel prevailed–It was a team effort to keep his hands lifted.
God will hear the cry of one person in a crisis. However, a group of believers who are in "one accord" can be even more effective. The required quorum for such a group is only two or three as Jesus said, “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:19-20).