I think one of the reasons why many Christians don’t pray, or don’t like praying, is that they don’t believe it really does anything. Or if it does, they never really know. So I want to pose this question that I’m sure we’ve all asked at one time or another:
Does prayer really work?
It’s a valid question, especially when we are perhaps investing many hours a week in the practice of prayer. If it’s not effective then let’s get on to doing other things that can make a difference in people’s lives, right?
I’ve heard some Christians reduce prayer to something that merely changes us. Prayer does change us! But their view of prayer is that it doesn’t actually change the mind of God or affect people’s lives. It is simply a way to find more peace. It’s thought of as a spiritual exercise that helps us to remember who God is.
The problem with this idea of prayer is that, well, this is not Christian prayer. What they are describing is more like meditation. Sure, there are prayers that may be more meditative as we are just reminding ourselves of who God is. But one of the most basic elements of prayer is the request. To request is to ask for something. Little kids are always requesting things, right? “Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Can I have a cookie?”
Another word used in the Bible is “supplication” which is defined this way: “the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly.” This is a huge part of prayer! We request things like peace, provision, protection, health, employment, assistance with a project, insight into a relationship issue, the softening of someone’s heart, for the Word of God to touch people when the pastor is preaching, for sinners to be awakened, for energy to serve and a million other things. As children of God, it is in our nature to ask the Father for things. And the Father loves to answer.
Genie in a bottle
Now, it doesn’t mean that God will give us everything we want—like a Genie in a bottle granting three wishes. Just like earthly dads, the Heavenly Father sometimes says, “no” or “not yet.” That’s why it’s so important to understand His will as revealed in the Word. Our prayers must be according to the will of God.
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. —1 John 5:14-15
We could think of many ridiculous examples that God would say no to, like asking God to cause us to win the lottery. Or asking God to help us to get an A on a test even though we didn’t study at all. Or asking God to cause our favorite team to win in the Super Bowl. Sometimes God doesn’t fulfill our request because what we’re asking is not His will. So we should definitely ask God for things, and if we aren’t sure if what we are requesting is God’s will, then we should temper our request by saying “Not my will but yours be done.”
God may say no for other reasons as well. It’s possible, for example, to ask for something good but ask with the wrong motives (James 4). Or we could be requesting something that God would love to do for us, but He won’t do it yet because we are holding onto sin or we are mistreating our spouse (1 Peter 3). Consider this statement of King David in the psalms:
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. —Psalm 66:18-19
Prayer works!
What I want to show you though is that when prayer doesn’t work the problem is not with God. He’s not distracted or busy. It’s not that God doesn’t care or that He wants to make us grovel. We are the problem! But if we ask with a right heart and right motives, and ask according to His will, He will answer! In His perfect time of course. :) Consider what James said about Elijah:
The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months, it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. —James 5:16b-18
We might think this is not an encouraging, relatable example. I mean, Elijah, really? This is the guy who prayed fire down from heaven to burn up a sacrifice in a showdown against the prophets of Baal in front of all the people (1 Kings 18). This was a mighty man of God whose prayers were powerful! Of all the examples why would James pick Elijah to compare us to? And also remind us of the time his very prayers caused rain to fall from the sky!
This example James chose was intentional. And remember, the Holy Spirit moved him to write it. The truth the Lord is pressing through this verse is this: our prayers can be just as powerful and effective as Elijah’s prayers. It is meant to encourage and inspire us to ask big!
The verse in James says, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” The old King James Version puts it this way: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” The popular NIV version says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” The Message Bible (paraphrase) makes it even more clear: “The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.”
But am I righteous?
It is true that we need to be “right with God” as The Message Bible points out. This idea is supported by many verses in the Word. But we shouldn’t overstate this idea to the point that we never feel that we are righteous enough for our prayers to be effective. Being “right with God” or “righteous” isn’t some unattainable state of moral perfection reserved only for super saints. We are right with God when we come to Him humbly and honestly. Keep this verse in mind from 1 John 1:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. —1 John 1:9
I also want to remind you that if you are in Christ you have His righteousness. The perfect life of Jesus is given to us by faith to make our own when we place our trust in Him. Think of it as a cloak over us that enables us to enter heaven. We don’t enter heaven on our own merits but on the merits of Him (Jesus) who lived a perfect life. Therefore, when we pray we are not approaching God in our righteousness—that the Bible says is like filthy rags—but in Christ’s.
It’s very easy to think of ourselves as so imperfect and flawed that surely our prayers must not be powerful. This is a trick of the enemy; he doesn’t want us to understand how powerful the weapon of prayer is and that our prayers can shake heaven and earth. He’ll do anything to keep us from making serious supplication on behalf of others because he knows God will answer.
Think of what prayer has done through ordinary men and women through the ages. It has stopped plagues and divided seas. It has shut the mouths of lions and overturned armies. It has dispatched angels. It has raised the dead and healed the sick. It has caused the Word of God to penetrate hearts. And has prevented genocide (Esther). It has opened prison doors. It has held back the judgment of God even!
Dear friends, know that your prayers in Christ are powerful. He does hear, and He does answer. Our supplications can change the world. Don’t stop praying!