Are My Prayers Relevant?
In most of my life experience, prayer time in church was boring. Just mention "prayer meeting" and most would give you the inward, if not outward eye-roll. Even my own prayer life stagnated. Why is this the experience of many? Maybe it's because (and I'm being painfully honest)
What conclusions do we mistakenly come to when this is our experience?
All of these conclusions regarding God and our prayers are lies from the enemy.
What if we've gotten it all wrong? What if we can have a connection to God that assures us that we are heard, that we and our prayers matter? What if we can absolutely expect answers?
What would it be like if we learned more about God to know how to partner with Him when we pray? What would it be like to be part of the answer to the prayers we ask of Him? How would you feel if you were guaranteed to be "praying right" and see God's hand at work?
The Honest Truth
Prayer is, quite simply, a conversation with God. Jesus made this conversation possible by reconciling all things to Himself; that is, He stepped in between us and our sin so that our holy heavenly Father will hear our prayers. We can talk to Him about any of our concerns, and we can intercede (advocate) for others as well, which becomes a partnership with God in doing His will.
There's no "magic formula" to a prayer that reaches God. However, we need to understand some basic principles:
Praying according to what we already know is God's will is sure to get an answer. Maybe you will get to see the answer in your lifetime; maybe not; however, you can know that your prayer is reaching God--the only one powerful enough to do something about your request!
Partnership? With God?
When God places a burden on your heart, He is inviting you to join with Him in being part of the answer. Praying alone is participation with God, but there may be other ways in which He wants you to act. After you make your request known to Him, look and listen for ways He is enabling you to be a part of the solution. For example, depending upon your request, here are ways you might participate in God's solution:
A friend of mine (shout out to you, girl!) shared something poignant from prayer time in her small group meeting. The facilitator patiently listened to a distressed person's request, and kindly asked, "How can we pray for your heart?" What a wise group leader! This person acknowledged the core issue of soul peace, comfort, and joy. If these are in place, most everything else is worked out.
I've embarked on a journey of praying for core issues for myself and others. On this path of discovery, I've seen growth and happiness. Plus, I've seen biblical examples of prayer from mature Christians and am using these to pray for myself and others:
"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." – Philippians 1:9-11
"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;" – Colossians 1:9-11
These, my friend, are prayers God certainly wants to answer!
How Do I Know If My Prayer Is Effective?
God has several purposes for prayer:
My prayer life and understanding of prayer changed dramatically after reading Paul Miller's book A Praying Life. I'm offering this recommendation to you – follow the link below to the description and get one for your own library:
A Praying Life
Subscribe to free weekly articles in your inbox HERE; your information will never be shared. :-)
©2023 Julianne Knapp. First published 1.10.23
- We easily tire of praying for physical needs of someone we don't even know, who is not likely to recover
- We see no answers to prayers
- There's no life or excitement going on during prayer time
- It feels as if my prayers are "bouncing off the ceiling"
What conclusions do we mistakenly come to when this is our experience?
- God doesn't hear
- God doesn't care
- Our prayers don't matter
- Maybe we don't have enough faith
- Maybe we don't pray fervently enough
- Maybe we don't keep our end of some "bargain" with God
- Maybe there's some hidden sin in our lives we don't know about
- My prayers are a waste of time
All of these conclusions regarding God and our prayers are lies from the enemy.
What if we've gotten it all wrong? What if we can have a connection to God that assures us that we are heard, that we and our prayers matter? What if we can absolutely expect answers?
What would it be like if we learned more about God to know how to partner with Him when we pray? What would it be like to be part of the answer to the prayers we ask of Him? How would you feel if you were guaranteed to be "praying right" and see God's hand at work?
The Honest Truth
Prayer is, quite simply, a conversation with God. Jesus made this conversation possible by reconciling all things to Himself; that is, He stepped in between us and our sin so that our holy heavenly Father will hear our prayers. We can talk to Him about any of our concerns, and we can intercede (advocate) for others as well, which becomes a partnership with God in doing His will.
There's no "magic formula" to a prayer that reaches God. However, we need to understand some basic principles:
- Prayer is an act of humility, trust, and dependence upon God
- We are not God. God is God, and He does what He likes (Psalm 115:3)
- We need to be honest with God concerning our own sin so that our prayers will not be hindered (Psalm 66:18; Matthew 6:12; 1 Peter 3:7)
- Our will must be aligned with God's will, not the other way around (Psalm 37:4)
- Our prayers matter (James 5:16)
Praying according to what we already know is God's will is sure to get an answer. Maybe you will get to see the answer in your lifetime; maybe not; however, you can know that your prayer is reaching God--the only one powerful enough to do something about your request!
Partnership? With God?
When God places a burden on your heart, He is inviting you to join with Him in being part of the answer. Praying alone is participation with God, but there may be other ways in which He wants you to act. After you make your request known to Him, look and listen for ways He is enabling you to be a part of the solution. For example, depending upon your request, here are ways you might participate in God's solution:
- healing for yourself: do your part to follow a course of action to promote healing in the arena of God's common grace (ways in which He uses skilled people to facilitate health)
- healing for others: offer to take them to appointments; help them do research to become better informed about their condition and solutions; encourage them with your presence (never underestimate the power of proximity!)
- spiritual growth for yourself or others: seek solid, biblical resources that offer positive action steps
- financial distress for yourself or others: pray for God to work in the person's heart to draw them closer to Him; get financial counseling
- personal distress: seek counseling
A friend of mine (shout out to you, girl!) shared something poignant from prayer time in her small group meeting. The facilitator patiently listened to a distressed person's request, and kindly asked, "How can we pray for your heart?" What a wise group leader! This person acknowledged the core issue of soul peace, comfort, and joy. If these are in place, most everything else is worked out.
I've embarked on a journey of praying for core issues for myself and others. On this path of discovery, I've seen growth and happiness. Plus, I've seen biblical examples of prayer from mature Christians and am using these to pray for myself and others:
"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." – Philippians 1:9-11
"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;" – Colossians 1:9-11
These, my friend, are prayers God certainly wants to answer!
How Do I Know If My Prayer Is Effective?
God has several purposes for prayer:
- He wants to connect with us, and us to Him
- He desires to grow our faith by allowing us to see answers
- He shows His glory through answered prayer
- Prayer is one of the ways God is restoring things to the way He created them to be
- No matter how God chooses to answer our prayers, prayer changes US!
My prayer life and understanding of prayer changed dramatically after reading Paul Miller's book A Praying Life. I'm offering this recommendation to you – follow the link below to the description and get one for your own library:
A Praying Life
Subscribe to free weekly articles in your inbox HERE; your information will never be shared. :-)
©2023 Julianne Knapp. First published 1.10.23