Dr. Norman Vincent Peale believed that when we pray, we are dealing with the most tremendous power in the world. He had a habit of praying for strangers as he passed them. Often, traveling by train, he would see people standing on the station platform and realize that he was seeing them for the first and last time. As the train moved on and these people disappeared from his sight, he began praying for them.

When the train rolled past a field, Dr. Peale would pray for a man plowing in the field and ask the Lord to help him and give him a good crop. “I saw a mother hanging clothes, and the line of freshly washed garments told me she had a large family. I prayed for her,” said Dr. Peale, “that she would have a happy life, that her husband would always be true to her and that they would raise their children to honor God.”

Dr. Peale saw a lovable little kid, one pant leg longer than the other, wearing a two-big sweater, hair tousled, and having dirt on his face. He prayed silently for that child, and as the train moved away from the station, the little boy looked up and gave Dr. Peale the most wonderful smile and then waved to him. “I shall never see that boy again,” said Dr. Peale, “but our lives touched, and I am sure it was because the power of God was moving in a circuit through me, to the boy and back to God.”

Our world has certainly changed since the days of Dr. Peale, but the truths he taught have not, and when we choose to pray, we are dealing with the most tremendous power available.

Tony Bellizzi, in his book “The Fast Lane,” suggests that we should educate ourselves about what’s going on in our world today. He cites these statistics: One in four babies are murdered by abortion. One in one hundred Americans are in jail. Forty percent of American teens self-mutilate. One in one hundred teens have an eating disorder. Slavery and human trafficking are thriving in America.

The problems of our world are overwhelming, but If it seems impossible to alter the problems of our larger world, perhaps we could begin by praying for people in our own city.

I received a gift from The Prayer Place of Emmanuel Connections, called “Seek God for the City,” a little booklet of prayers to be prayed during the 40 days before Palm Sunday. From March 6 to April 14, I will be praying, along with many others for the people and the needs of our city.

On the first day, we pray for children. Prayer walks are suggested: “Pray for kids in your neighborhood or pray near schools and playgrounds in any part of town. Pray for the entire family that surrounds the children that you see.”

We can Prayerwalk in places of poverty and neglect, asking the Holy Spirit to give us His eyes and His heart in order to pray in hope. We will pray for health care workers in hospitals, clinics or assisted living facilities. We will pray for those who are struggling with chronic illness or pain.

We can seek God on behalf of Gangs in our community praying that God will satisfy gang members’ desires for belonging and significance; for God to break the powers that hold them, and for caring Christians to embrace them in the love of God’s family. We must pray for the safety of our law enforcement officers, and for wisdom for our judges and city officials.

When we cannot do prayer walking, we can pray drive-by prayers, shooting prayers toward people and the tremendous problems in our community.

Virginia Dawkins is the author of Stepping Stones: Steps from Shackles to Freedom, available at Amazon.