The Christians I know believe 100% in the power of prayer. They pray for healing, for a safe trip, for a successful business meeting—even for a good parking space at Target! Not only prayer for themselves, but intercessory prayer for others: for Mom’s diabetes, for hurricane survivors, for our President. But when put to a real test, a life or death test, just how far are they willing to extend their faith in prayer?
Imagine during a flight the pilot casually comes on the address system and announces he is a Christian, professing his love for Jesus and his unequivocal faith in God. Statistically speaking, most passengers on the plane would experience a warm, reassuring feeling. Some may respond aloud with “Amens”; others may even applaud.
Now imagine, on final approach the plane experiences a period of extreme turbulence. The pilot addresses the passengers once again, this time asking them to all hold hands and join him in prayer for a safe landing. Normally, this would be a routine act for many faithful Christians, even in a public setting. But now, with the runway in view, he reads aloud the true believers’ creed from the Gospel of John 14:13-14.*
In a firm, confident tone he announces, "Through faith and the power of prayer, our Lord Jesus will be taking the wheel and landing our plane today!” Now imagine the looks of terror on the faces of even the most pious passengers on board!
I know.
You think this to be a silly story. However, a similar real-life incident took place in 2017 on an AirAsia flight. When the plane began to shake violently the pilot requested that the passengers begin praying. This request from the pilot happened not just once, but twice during the flight!
As you can imagine, this threw the passengers into total panic! Fortunately, the plane landed safely (as most do) and credit was certainly given to the hand of God. Wait a minute, most of the passengers were Muslim and Buddhist so they were actually praying to the wrong God–and certainly not in the name of Jesus!
Source: http://fox8.com/2017/06/25/pilot-tells-passengers-to-pray-after-airasia-x-flight-starts-shaking/
*Gospel of John 14
(Jesus speaking)
13 "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." 14 "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."