Do Our Prayers Really Matter?

Good morning!

Do our prayers really matter?

James was the son of Mary and Joseph, Jesus' half-brother.  After Jesus' resurrection James became the leader of the church in Jerusalem until his martyrdom.

In chapter 5 of his book, verses 13-18, he is talking about the power of prayer.  The centerpiece of this passage is verse 16:  "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."  James then cites the example of Elijah, who prayed for 3.5 years that there would be no rain on the earth in his country.  And, God withheld rain.  Afterwards, Elijah prayed that it would rain; and, God then sent rain.

2 Kings 20:1-11  In this passage, King Hezekiah had been told by God that his days were short.  God basically said, "Get your house in order, boy, 'cuz you are comin' home!"  Hezekiah was appalled to hear this and begged God to give him more time.  As a result, God gave him 15 additional years.

Can our prayers change God's mind?  It appears so.  In fact, in other parts of the Old Testament, God says that He was sorry that he had created man (Genesis 6 The Message version) and that they had broken His heart.  This led Him to bring the Great Flood on the earth.

When the Scriptures record Abraham "bargaining" with God in Genesis 18:23-33, it appears that God changed His mind.  This is one of the most amazing portions of Scripture, because it is recorded that God took on human form (theologians call this a theophany of Jesus Christ) and came walking across the desert with two angels beside Him, to visit Abraham.  And, then, we read that Abraham had the gall to beg God to change His mind!

The point I want to focus on here is that God wants us to commune with Him in prayer.  Does He really change His mind?  I don't think so.  Our God knows all, from beginning to end.  He knows what will happen in every circumstance long before it begins to unfold in our time-bound earth.  The psalmist said that God "does whatever He pleases" (Psalm 115:3).  However, when we pray, He is allowing us to deepen our relationship with Him by having a part in His marvelous, perfect will.

It appears that the two actions are contradictory, and it is a tremendous mystery, but they are not.  God's all-knowing (omniscience) and His all-powerful (omnipotent) attributes allow our prayers to make an earthshaking difference.  Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 that if we pray in faith that a mountain will be moved, it will happen.  That is an amazing statement!

God created and established prayer, prayed in faith, as a powerful weapon in the ongoing spiritual war, in which we play a powerful role.  A key element of effective prayer is that we believe our prayers make a difference.  Someone once said that if our prayers are the key, our faith is what puts the key into the lock and turns it.

One of the most effective weapons of the enemy, that old devil, is to convince us that our prayers don't matter.  There is a school of philosophical thought called nihilism which says basically that nothing we do matters.  The belief that prayer is meaningless is born out of this satanic school of thought.  Don't fall for it, Believer!

Believe what the Scriptures say, even though we have in this life an unclear understanding of how prayer works.  Keep on faithfully praying!  It will strengthen your relationship with your Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, please help me to remember to pray to You about even the most minute circumstances of my life.  I want to be more dependent on You, as opposed to "driving the wagon" myself.  Thank you for giving me the privilege of deepening our relationship through prayer.  I am so grateful that You hear me 24 hours a day and forever.  You, the God of the Universe!  I don't understand it; but, I am so very grateful for Your indescribable love.  In Jesus' name, amen.