Does Prayer Even Work?
Have you ever felt like, “Prayer? What’s the point?”
Or maybe, when someone tells you to “pray about it,” you scoff & think, “Well, thanks, that is about zero percent helpful to me right now”?
Maybe prayer seems too “spiritual” or maybe you do it but you don’t really see it help anything.
Maybe you feel you do it because you grew up hearing you should do it, but you don’t really see prayer accomplish anything.
I have probably felt all of those & more growing up as a Christian.
Ask God… The HOW Matters
I get it. I used to feel like prayer was just something you do because it’s “churchy” or because I’m supposed to. I didn’t really see how prayer helped me in any real way.
But, I did, through the years, ask God to help me understand why I should pray… to show me what I didn’t seem to get… to reveal how maybe I wasn’t praying right.
I know I say all the time that there are no magic words to prayer, that there is no magic formula, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter at all HOW you should pray.
Besides, why would God tell us, in the Bible—His Word to us, to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) if prayer was pointless?
I think the biggest reason I was struggling with prayer is that I was completely missing the whole point of prayer. I was praying wrong.
Why Do You Pray?
If I am praying to “get something” from God, as if He is my personal genie, then I am not getting the point. He doesn’t exist to carry out our every whim.
If I am praying as if I’m the ringleader, coming up with the plans, & then asking Him to carry them out for me, then I am not getting the point. He doesn’t exist to make my plans happen for me.
Prayer is not vain repetitions of, “If I say it enough times, maybe God will answer me.”
Prayer is not a magic formula of, “if I say it the ‘right’ way, maybe God will answer me.”
Prayer is not just empty, meaningless words to put “good vibes” out there because, well, “it couldn’t hurt.”
Prayer is not meant to be a “backup plan” to throw out there while you try to fix it yourself, your way, in your strength & plan.
Prayer is not the magical fairy dust to make your plan take flight.
Prayer is not saying, “God, help me to grow in my faith,” while not ever taking any steps of obedience of what God already tells us will bolster & strengthen us in our faith in Him.
Prayer Puts HIM As LORD
Prayer is a posture of the heart.
Prayer is acknowledging that HE is God & you are not.
Prayer is recognizing that “many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the will of God that will prevail.” (Proverbs 19:21)
Prayer is a heart posture of stepping back from ME being in charge, & recognizing that He alone holds that position. His kingdom, where He rules, is heaven AND earth. (Deuteronomy 10:14; Matthew 6:9-10)
Prayer is putting Him in the driver’s seat of your life & letting Him run it.
Prayer is releasing control of YOUR WAY, & letting Him have HIS WAY.
Prayer is relying on His strength instead of your own… His power, His wisdom, His comfort, His peace… instead of leaning on anything else, including yourself, for those things.
Prayer is saying, “I am weak, but You are strong. I am not enough, but You are.”
Prayer is saying, “not my will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
Prayer Relies on Him AS We Walk in OBEDIENCE to Him
Prayer is not reliant on “believing ‘enough,’” but believing rightly (Matthew 17:20) that if anyone can, He can… if anyone is able, He is (Matthew 19:26)… if anyone loves & cares for you, it’s Him (1 Peter 5:6-7), & praying accordingly.
Prayer is saying, “God, I know that no matter how much I want to believe it, I DON’T know what’s best, because my perspective is limited. But I know that Yours is not & You DO know, so please help me see what to do.”
Prayer is saying, “I am not the solution, You are, so God, please help me do it Your way, even if it’s not the way I pictured it.”
Prayer is saying, “God, I don’t feel like it, AT ALL, & I’m sorry for my bad attitude, but please help me do it anyway as I step forward. I want to do it because it honors You, so please help me! Change my heart & enable me!”
Instead of Praying __________, Pray ____________________
Instead of, “God, help me to do this,” & then stepping away from it until He makes you feel like doing it “enough,” Instead, pray, & DO IT, trusting that if it indeed honors Him, He WILL help AS you do it.
Prayer is standing on His promises as if they are factual vs wishful thinking (because if He says it, it is factual), versus a hopeful begging for what He has already promised to give or provide.
Instead of, “God, please be with them in their hurting,” when He already promises to be with us… pray: “God, give them peace. Fill them with Your comfort. Let them feel Your presence of comfort in this difficult time. Help them see You move. Give them wisdom on how to best move forward through this storm. Show me how I can help lighten their burden.”
Jesus’ Model Prayer
A great place to start, in learning HOW to pray, is Jesus’ model prayer, in Matthew 6:
Jesus said, “In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom & the power & the glory forever. Amen.
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
To better understand this prayer, please listen to the sermon series recordings by a pastor I very much respect as someone who preaches God’s Word as is, without fluffing it, but with grace to edify his listeners (found on gracehome.org, starting June 6, 2021, by Pastor Tim Perrin–HIGHLY recommend this series, even for those who have maybe heard this passage preached a billion times).
How to Know If You’re Praying Wrong
So, how to know if you’re praying wrong? To sum all of this up, prayer is a heart posture that says, “God, You ALONE are God. Enable me AS I obey YOU. Help me to trust You to enable me when I know I am NOT enough &/or feel I have nothing left to give. Be my comfort & give me Your peace. Lead me in YOUR plans, not mine. Teach me Your Truth & show me how to LIVE IT. Help me to walk in obedience to You, even when I don’t feel like it or feel like I care, changing my perspective & will to Yours vs. insisting You see & do mine. You always know best. You keep Your promises. Thank You, God, for Your faithful, generous, long-suffering daily grace for me! Amen.”
There is no magic formula for prayer, but it IS possible to pray incorrectly or ineffectively.
Shine HOPE by asking God to teach you how to pray in a way that gives Him the glory & credit He deserves WHILE you walk in obedience to what He already tells you in His Word.
Amen & amen. Let it be so.
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