PRAYER: WHAT IT DOES AND DOES NOT DO

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Prayer does not promise to free us from trouble. Indeed, God promises us the opposite. Trials will come. Such is this world. Rather, we pray to align our hearts and minds with God’s will.

We pray that we would accept God’s ordering of things, not our own, because it is HIS Kingdom.

We pray that we will be made strong and made better in difficulty, like gold purified in fire.

We pray that we would do those things which advance God’s purposes, to shine His testimony brightest in the darkness.

We pray for those things which we believe are in God’s will — but with the same caveat Jesus used — “not my will, but Yours be done.”

We pray with our eyes on the new heaven and new earth, where all these troubles will be solved, the dead will be reunited, and every tear will be wiped away.

God-Given Strength

The mockers will say, “See! Prayer did not help!” Not so.

It is only by faith that the tragedies of this fallen world become instruments of advancing a greater purpose.

The one who has no faith is defeated because they have no hope beyond living a trouble-free life, which happens to nobody.

But to the one who has faith, the troubles of this world are like gym equipment to a gymnast. They strengthen us. They bring us close to God. They help us to understand things with an ultimate and eternal perspective.

And it is those people, made fit by the fallenness of their world, who are strong to advance works for God; who walk in His ways; and who will rejoice the greatest when God greets them and all the troubles that made them are now resolved.

To put it bluntly, they are not the killers. They are the finest of people.

No point railing against the pray-ers in trouble. You will be better served to understand their method.

Then you can live with hope and meaning, too, no matter what this fallen world throws up.

Republished with minor changes, thanks to Martyn Iles. 

PEOPLE WHO MAKE A LASTING DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD PRAY

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Image result for picture of Jesus christ praying in the garden

Prayer needs to be the first thing we think of, for things to succeed, not the last thing we do when all else fails. The people who make a real and lasting difference in this world are people who first and foremost pray. They pray because they understand who God is and His capabilities (omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent). He is our creator, He loves us and made us in His image to be in communion with Him. Many will choose to trust God more when they realise that not to trust God is to distrust Him. To distrust God is to distress yourself and disconnect from others.

“And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:39 

Timing of this event: 11 pm-2 am – Jesus leaves the disciples and goes to pray for three hours. Goes back to the disciples twice, wakes them, calling them to prayer. During the third hour, the sweat was pouring out of him “like blood”. The angels come to his aid, and Jesus is in charge of his body once more, despising the coming shame and trauma he is about to endure (“like a sheep before the shearers is dumb, he does not open his mouth”).

The objective of prayer is not to inform our Saviour and Lord of our needs (God knows everything), but to transform our situations and lives in our time of need (God knows we need it).

God designed prayer to be an effective spiritual muscle that we can freely exercise, in Jesus name, anytime, anywhere and for anything.  The Bible tells us how that “….the effective, heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man – a believer, can accomplish much when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and has tremendous power.