When a doctoral student at Princeton asked, “What is there left in the world for original dissertation research?” Albert Einstein replied, “Find out about prayer. Somebody must find out about prayer.”
I don’t pretend to understand how prayer works completely, but I completely believe in it. Similarly I have limited comprehension of how it’s possible to instant message a friend in Shanghai, China but I know from experience that it works. If the inventor of said technology explained it to me, I doubt I would fully grasp it. (No blonde jokes allowed, cough, cough!). In the same way, God is the inventor of prayer and I don’t have to understand it fully to receive the benefits. Prayer is definitely user friendly 🙂
I have experienced the power of prayer, and although I cannot aptly explain it, it is more real to me than the piece of road I’m walking down as I voice text these words into my iPhone.
The most amazing aspect of prayer is that God desires for us to know Him intimately through it. Think about it: we can actually communicate with Almighty God! The more we pray, the more we develop a relationship with Him. When I pray, my thoughts and my heart change–I come into alignment with God. Amazing. He wants to know me, and me to know Him. I get it, but I totally don’t get it!
Prayer Makes Me Different
I encountered an intoxicated couple at my church. They were sitting in the row right in front of me, and they wreaked of alcohol. This man and woman kept whispering to each other throughout the service at an embarrassingly loud volume level. They were shifting around in their seats–even getting up and sitting back down a few times. No question they were drunk and having a hard time focusing.
I’m going to be completely honest and tell you, I didn’t have the right attitude at first. I really wanted to hear the message and I found myself getting irritated and distracted to say the least. Why were they here? Aha! At that thought I instantaneously realized I needed to pray.
While praying, the Holy Spirit brought memories to my mind from my high school days. Back then I talked and passed notes…during church…non stop…week after week. I was very distracting, but at the time, I didn’t see anything wrong with it. Although it appeared that I wasn’t listening at all, I actually did get good seeds planted in me by being at church. I thank God that He blessed me with His love despite my rude behavior.
My heart began to shift from irritation to compassion toward the intoxicated strangers. I began praying that they would experience God’s love and His presence. Before I ever even spoke a word to them, to my great joy, they went down to the front and asked for prayer at the end of the service!
Now my prayer shifted once again: “Please Lord, speak to them and don’t let them leave here unchanged! Please don’t let me leave unchanged either! Never let my heart be so selfish as to think that my church is just for me and my nourishment. Please help me to remember the grace you’ve given me in my own journey, and to rejoice for every hungry soul who comes into your church. ‘Break my heart for what break yours’ and keep me far from pride. Instead, fill me with your mercy and grace!”
Colossians 4:2 (MSG) Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude.
What if I had not prayed? I really don’t know what would have happened. Would God have moved someone else’s heart to intercede for the intoxicated strangers? Would He have chosen to move them to a place of repentance without including any other praying believers in the process? In Ezekiel 22:30 God says, “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” This says to me, God is looking for intercessors. But why me? Why does He want to include me and you in His work?
Once again, my understanding of prayer is not complete: I get it, but I totally don’t get it! But I do know that God prompted me to pray for these strangers, and He answered. God moved powerfully in their lives. He moved powerfully in mine too! If I had not prayed, I would not have experienced God shifting my own heart into a completely different place than where it wanted to go on its own. Through prayer He transitioned me from “all attitude” to “all gratitude.”
You don’t have to understand it completely, but I encourage you to pray. Pray and pray some more, and you will see God at work, in your world, but most certainly in you <3
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.~ 1 John 5:14
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