Prayer Changes Things
I think it’s safe to assume that most Christians, if not all, would say that prayer is important. Or they might say that prayer is a “good” thing to do. Even those who don’t actively live lives that reflect being a follower of Christ might ask for prayer in a time of need. When tragedy strikes we are quick to say things like, “Hey, I’ll be praying for you” or throw up a comment on Facebook saying “prayers” with a praying hands emoji. Yet despite all that, only 55% of Christians pray every day. Most only pray once a week, or even once a month. So, if we all agree that prayer is important, and powerful, and valuable, then the question is: why don’t we pray? What stops us from actually investing time and energy into our prayer life?
We don’t think things will actually happen.
God has better things to do then to answer our requests
Let’s face it, it can be boring.
Sometimes you pray but feel nothing.
It’s uncomfortable
But I I think the thing that stops us from having an active and intimate prayer life can be boiled down to one thing: we don’t know how to pray.
The good news is that God knew we would struggle with this, and so in the Bible, His living Word, He taught us how, why, and when we should pray. In Luke chapter 11 Jesus literally gives His disciples a little prayer guide which is the how and why. If Jesus’ own disciples didn’t know how to pray, you don’t need to be embarrassed about the fact that you don’t know how to pray or what to pray. Luke 11 says:
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them,
“When you pray, say:
“‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’” - Luke 11:1-4
Jesus is saying that when we pray, we are giving glory to God for who He is, we are asking God to provide for us, and we are asking God to lead us and guide us. We are realigning our hearts with God’s heart. You don’t have to pray big fancy prayers! Jesus is more concerned with your heart then your words!
Ephesians 6:18 tells us when us to pray:
Pray in the spirit at all times and on every occasion.
Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
- Ephesians 6:18
No matter where you are - school, Sunday at church, or Monday on your way home from work - you can pray. God is never to busy to hear from you. God never stops fighting for you. He never stop caring for you. He never stops working. He never clocks out, He never drops the ball. He never forgets about you.
And if we know that we are in a spiritual battle, which we are, then we need to fight like our lives depend on it, because they do! Here’s the unfortunate thing most people tend to do with there prayer life.
Most people hit the breaks just before the breakthrough
Meaning they give up right before they see a move of God in their lives. When you stop praying, you stop fighting. When you stop praying for your marriage, you stop fighting for your marriage. When you stop praying for your kids, you stop fighting for your kids. When you stop praying for God’s will for your life, you start fighting against God’s will for your life.
That’s what Satan wants to stop - a move of God in your life. He wants to distract you and discourage you so he can defeat you. He wants to stop your prayers because he knows that when you pray you are tapping into a greater power. He wants to do whatever he can to derail your walk with Jesus. I’ll give you an example from my own life.
Last week my husband had unexpected health news that terrified me. His doctor said they had to check to see if he had a tumor. After a few days of waiting and praying we were able to turn our prayer to praise because he doesn’t have a tumor and he found a treatment that should help him.
Then this week, I found out I have blood clots in my left leg. I literally don’t understand and I’m frustrated. But instead of worrying, I knew I needed to spend time worshipping. And praising. And yes, praying. A lot. Because I have found that when you understand what happens when you pray you won’t ever stop praying. You might not see the impact it has immediately, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t working.
In the Old Testament there was a prophet named Elijah who was in Israel during a long and hard season where they experienced a serious drought for 3 years.Thats a long time not to see any rain so the people were wondering if and when God would ever send rain.
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!”
42 So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.
43 Then he said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.”
The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.”
Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. 44 Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”
Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home.
If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’”
45 And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel. 46 Then the Lord gave special strength to Elijah. - 1 Kings 18:41-46
Imagine for a moment, if this was you in this situation……
6 times the servant went up to check for rain, 6 times he came back and said ‘I didn’t see anything.’ I’d be getting pretty frustrated because it was clearly not working!
But then, on the 7th time, he saw something on the horizon above the sea. He almost had to squint to see it…a small cloud, barely the size of a hand. And after that it didn’t take long after that for the rain to come.
You might be praying for something, and like the servant kept going up to see nothing. You might be on that 4th, or 5th, or even 6th time of nothing happening. And you are starting to doubt if God will ever come through.
Maybe you’ve been praying for a breakthrough with your job, or with your family, or with an illness, or with an addiction. Don’t stop on 6. Keep going, in faith. Don’t stop praying, don’t stop waiting, because God’s timing is always perfect.
Don’t forget what I mentioned…most people hit the breaks right before the breakthrough. That’s exactly what the enemy wants you to do. He wants you to quit when things get hard, convince you that prayer doesn’t matter, strip us away of all of our faith and replace it with fear.
Remember when Israel went against Jericho and God told them to march around the city 7 times until the walls fell? By day 6, you’d probably feel pretty stupid. Yet, they kept on. And on the 7th day, the walls did fall. But imagine - what if the army stopped on the 6th lap, and just hit the breaks? They would have missed the breakthrough that came on that 7th day when those walls came crashing down!
I may not know what’s going on in your season of life but I know this: it’s always the right time to talk to Jesus.
Prayer gives us hope in hopeless situations.
So, come BOLDLY to the throne of God.
He will meet you right where you are.