The Power of Prayer

Prayer is a staple in the lives of most religious people. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and others pray. Even atheists pray! All of them claim answered prayers.

We often see and hear the phrases, the power of prayer and prayer changes things. These are phrases I detest. It’s one thing to say that we believe in the power of prayer, but it’s entirely different to say we believe in the God who hears and answers prayer. Prayer doesn’t change anything; God changes things. One is idolatry, the other acknowledges and glorifies God.

To talk about the power of prayer or prayer changes things means that it’s my words which are powerful. If the power to change things is in my prayer, God is robbed of His power and glory.

The power of prayer puts the results of prayer in the persuasive nature of my words rather than in the sovereign God who hears and answers.

The power of prayer rests in the faith I place in myself and what I say or how I say it. That’s very different from trusting God to hear and reply based on His love, grace, and perfect will.

There are some who say, “why, they’re just harmless phrases,” but I would much rather believe in and speak of an Almighty God who answers prayer according to His will, than to boast about the power of my feeble and often ignorant words.

Call to Me, and I will answer you … (Jeremiah 33:3).

The Idol of Prayer

Prayer is a staple in the lives of most religious people. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and others pray and say their prayers are answered. Today we often see and hear the phrase, “the power of prayer.” It is one thing to say that we believe in the power of prayer; it’s an entirely different thing to say we believe in the God who hears and answers prayer.

To talk about “the power of prayer” means that it is my words which are powerful, robbing God of His power and glory.

The “power of prayer” puts the results of prayer in the persuasive nature of my words rather than in the God who hears and answers.

The “power of prayer” rests in the faith I place in myself and what I say; which is different from trusting in God.

There are some who say, “why, it’s just a harmless phrase,” but I would much rather believe in and speak of a God who is Almighty and answers my prayers according to His will than to pridefully boast about some mystical and idolatrous power of my feeble and often ignorant words.

Call to Me, and I will answer you … (Jeremiah 33:3).

Screaming Silence

In Psalm 28:1, David sang, O Lord, you are my rock of safety. Please help me; don’t refuse to answer me. For if you are silent, I might as well give up and die (NLT).

For almost a year now I’ve been sending my resume across the Unites States and Canada looking for a job.  The replies I’ve received back have not been encouraging.  Okay, that’s a lie – they’ve been downright discouraging. The answers have all been negative.  No one in this world wants a man like me.  What’s even worse is that many of the positions I’ve sent my resume for have resulted in no reply at all.

There’s nothing worse than being stuck in a holding pattern of silence. No forward. No backward. No side-to-side.  You wait for an answer that never comes and the mind races to a thousand possibilities; the heart hopes, only to be dashed by the hesitation and screaming silence.  The mind becomes a disaster area with a devastated heart.  I’d rather hear a “no way” than be left hanging with no response. In the silence your dashed hopes and dreams ponder, “What’s wrong with me?”

God knows how the human mind and heart work.  He knows that in the silence of an answer we are prone to wonder, wander, lose heart and hope, and like David even wish to die.  His desire is for peace in His people, not turmoil.  Unlike men, God does not delay His answer when we are eager to hear and obey.  When we call on Him, He’s promised to give an answer: Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you know not  (Jeremiah 33:3).

Just a few verses later in Psalm 28, David adds to his song: Praise the Lord! He has heard my cry for mercy … and helps me so my heart is filled with joy and I burst out in songs of thanksgiving (Psalm 28:6, 7).

Calling God

I remember my mom calling and calling and calling for us kids to come and do something.  But we had a secret.  If we waited long enough, and didn’t come to her, eventually she’d give up and do whatever it was that needed to be done.

God doesn’t work that way though. He invites us to call upon Him so He can act.  Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know  (Jeremiah 33:3).

How many times do we just expect God to do something and never think to actually call to Him?  We can have lots of reasons not to call out to Him, but He asks us to call out.  When we call out, He promises not only to hear us, but to answer us.

Sure, He may not always answer in the ways we understand, but He promises to work when we call.