Sunday, February 18, 2018

Your Prayers Matter


by Andy Lee @WordsByAndyLee

A few years ago I was disenchanted with prayer.

I was angry and confused.

Grief stricken.

"Why do we pray if it doesn't make a difference?" I yelled to the sky.

The answer I found after months of anguish and wrestling was very simple. We pray because . . .

We are told to.

It's that profound my friends. We pray because we are told to pray.

I could tell you that prayer is our opportunity to bring heaven on earth—it’s an opportunity to partner with God. I could tell you that prayer changes us in the process and draws us closer to the Life-Giver.

I could tell you that prayer heals people on this side of heaven and sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes faith is not the key factor to the answered petition. There are situations when we can have all the faith in the world, but other factors like God's will or the will of the person for whom we are praying alter the answer. The whole sovereignty of God and free-will dichotomy is beyond my comprehension.

And I've begun to notice that for each healed person in the Bible you can find a scripture about persevering through suffering.

But we are told to pray.

This verse was on my reading schedule the other day,

“The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray” (1 Peter 4:7 NIV).

The Greek words under the English translation mean "sane and sober". So we need to be sane (I'm not sure how we can control that) and not drunk. (I do know how we control that.) But we need to be that way so that . . .

We can pray.

And all I can think of is that Peter wrote this simply because, whether we see the evidence of our prayers working on this side of heaven or not, our prayers have got to be making a difference somewhere. Our prayers matter.

If they didn't, I don't think Peter would've written this. Nor would've John written about this vision in Revelation:

“And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people” (Revelation 5:8 NIV).

Pray.

Be released to pray whether you see your prayers answered in our reality or not.

Pray.


Because. Your. Prayers. Matter.

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Andy lee is the author of A Mary Like Me: Flawed Yet Called and The Book of Ruth Key Word Study: A 31 Day Journey to Hope and Promise. She is a blogger, inspirational speaker, Bible teacher, and empty-nest survivor. Join hundreds of viewers on her Facebook Live broadcast Monday-Friday for the Bite of Bread, and visit her website at www.wordsbyandylee.com where Andy where Andy provides resources to help you dig deep to live fully.

5 comments:

  1. A prayer is a conversation with God, our father and creator. Yes, most times it feels one-sided. But if we keep praying we form a relationship with him. Prayer can give us comfort during hard times.
    God is listening even when it feels He is not.
    We are, after all, His children.
    Thanks for starting the conversation, Andy Lee.

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  2. You bet they matter Ms. Andy. They matter to us; and most importantly they matter to God. For me, prayer is what keeps me connected to my home. Am so blessed to have conversations, not only with God, but with so many of His people. Am grateful to count many here at The Write Conversation among them. God's blessings ma'am...

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  3. I sure needed this, Andy. I've struggled to think my prayers matter ever since our minister died a month ago. I know better than to second guess, God, but I've done it anyway. It's comforting that I don't have to believe right now. I only have to be obedient, and that seems a lot easier than faith for the moment.

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  4. I needed this too, because I've been praying to have my daughter and grandchildren back in my life for the past 15 years, and so far no answer. I'll still keep praying and wait for God's timing. But that doesn't mean I don't sometimes get discouraged.

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  5. I'm in a season of struggling with prayer as well. I see all the people that Jesus healed just like that (snap) with only a simple request, or sometimes not even that...and I seem to pray and pray and pray for someone's healing without seeing an ounce of difference. Why?
    Thanks for this insight and the reminder that it is our task to pray... and leave the results to God. We actually don't know how our petitions are working in heaven.
    Jackie

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