Forever Changed!

Why Pray?

07 Aug 2011 1 Comment

by Shelly in Christianity Tags: Change, God's Word, prayer

Have you ever prayed long and hard for something in your life seemingly without an answer? I sure have! For me there have been extended periods of time where there seems to be no movement of God within my circumstances. And in all honesty, I might add that I’ve asked God through countless tears, “Are you listening God? Do you even hear me?” Knowing of course that He is and He does.

My favorite story about prayer comes from my son, Jake.

During the invitation portion of our Sunday evening service, Jake, who was in third grade at the time, asked me if he could go forward to pray. As any good mom would do during a situation like that, I said, “Yes, but don’t you dare embarrass me! You go down there and pray and then you come right back. And for heaven’s sake, don’t run!”

Well, his prayer time at the altar went off without a hitch. He walked slowly down the isle, knelt by his friend Josiah and prayed. Then he quietly got up and slowly walked back up the isle. I finally felt free to release my white-knuckle grip from the pew in front of me.

On the way home that evening Jake asked me, “Mom, do you want to know what I prayed about?” Even though I was dying to know, I nonchalantly said, “Sure, but only if you want to tell me.”

He said, “I prayed about two things. First, that Darian and I would get along better in class.” Side note: Darian has been Jake’s archnemisis since kindergarten. Most days there would be a grievous report about a struggle between the two.

I told Jake how pleased I was with his prayer.

He went on to say, “and the other thing I prayed for was that God would help me to like my teacher more.” Side note #2: Jake’s never met a teacher (or subject) that he liked.

I told him how that was a very noble prayer and that I was very proud of him.

Three days later I picked up Jake from school. I could immediately tell that something was wrong. As we walked together he began to unload how terrible his day was and how mad he was at his teacher because she gave him two warnings for doing nothing wrong and gave him homework and there wasn’t suppose to be homework on Wednesdays and … and … and his complaints went on and on.

Finally, I stopped him and said, “Sweetie, I thought you prayed the other night about God helping you to like your teacher more.” Immediately he quipped, “Well mom, you know how sometimes God answers our prayers with a “yes” and sometimes with a “no,” well, He answered my prayer with a “NO.”

I loved his child-like perception of how God answered his prayer.

While the reality is that prayer moves God, I think I’ve come to another conclusion about prayer. More than giving God our wish list of desires and imploring Him to change our circumstances or spare our family and friends from harm or begging Him for physical healing for our loved one, prayer is just one side of double-sided sticky tape that holds our relationship with God together. No relationship exists without communication. Prayer is for us. It is for us to communicate with the One who loves us most. Prayer is an ongoing dialogue with God. Sharing with Him our deepest desires, fears and dreams. He already knows what you need and what you want, but He wants you to ask Him. He wants you to talk to Him … not just when you need something … but as an ongoing conversation with Him. 1 John 5:14 says, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us…” What we find as we communicate with our Heavenly Father is that while our circumstances might remain unchanged, we are not. He’s changing us from the inside out as we learn to depend on Him minute by minute casting all our care on Him.

I mentioned prayer being just one side of the double-sided sticky tape. What’s the other side that holds our relationship together? God’s Word.

A Pastor once told me, “I believe you should read the Bible more than you pray, because we need to hear from God more than He needs to hear from us.” I think I agree with that statement.

Prayer is essential … but so is reading God’s Word. We NEED to hear from Him. Just as we speak to God through prayer, He speaks to us through His Word.  Both are essential for taking our Spiritual growth to new heights. Both are essential for change to take place in our life. I don’t know about you, but I desperately long to be changed … to be transformed into the woman of God that He longs for me to be. And this is accomplished through prayer and reading God’s Word.