PRAYER REALLY DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE

“PRAYER REALLY DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE”

By Pastor Mark Taylor

When we rely upon education, we get what education can do;  Education can provide opportunities that would otherwise be missed.  But it alone does not give us the wisdom from God to use our knowledge to always make the best decisions in life.  When we rely upon skill, we get what skill can do; Skill can be developed with training and practice, But when God gives you His blessing your skill will become a gift that far exceeds your ability.  When we rely upon 

, we get what technology can do; technology can be used for good or evil.   When we rely upon organization, we get what organization can do;  Organizations can meet the needs of people through group efforts

But, When we rely upon prayer, we get what God can do.  He can do more for you and me than education, skill, technology, and organization  Those  devoted to prayer do things by prayer-they begin with prayer, not tacking prayer on as an afterthought, after decisions are made.

"But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him."

1 Corinthians 2: 9

Prayer is not trying to convince God to give us what we want.  It is not a way of trying to get God to change His mind about things that needs to be changed in our lives.

It is praying "not my will, but thine be done."

Certainly there is a place for praying for God's blessings on our live as Jabez did:  

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!’ So God granted him what he requested” (1 Chronicles 4:10, NKJV).

We are encouraged over and over again in God’s Word to ask God for blessings. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”  Matthew 7:7-8

But that is not what prayer is all about!.  Prayer is more than asking and receiving things from God

When we pray, we receive the gift of God Himself-

Prayer is communion with God. He wants us to know Him.  If we never gain anything from prayer but the opportunity to commune with God, that should be sufficient for us.

Jesus counted on prayer as a source of strength that equipped Him to carry out a partnership with God the Father on earth.

Prayer makes a difference in receiving forgiveness for your sins.  It is a second chance that is given to you every time you go to your Heavenly Father.

Prayer makes a difference in our relationship as children of God with our Heavenly Father.  Apparently God is the kind of friend and Father who rewards friendship and relationship with Him.

  No one in the Old Testament directly addressed God as “Father”, but Jesus did so 170 times. He told us to also:  Our Father Who is in Heaven..” (Matthew 6: 8-10).

Prayer makes a difference in what we can receive from God.  “You have not because you ask not” (James 4:2)  But that asking should be as a loving child who is asking for things to make him a better person and better serve his Father.

"Cast your care (your anxiety, your worries about the future, your concern about those you love) upon Him, for He cares for you" ( 1 Peter 5:7)

Prayer will make a difference in how much and how effective we will be in our service for the Lord.  Prayer is more than a reflective time to consider God’s point of view.  It is also a time to find a way to accomplish God’s will in the work He calls us to do.  

After entrusting the human species with the gift of free choice, God invited them to act as partners, even to argue and wrestle with the One who created them.   He asks us to pray for that which He wants to do.

Prayer makes a difference in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  I spend time with my closest friends not because of what they can do for me, but for the pleasure of their company.    In one hand I hold the truth of God’s vastness, and in the other hand I hold the truth of God’s desire for intimacy.  Prayer that is based on relationship and not transaction may be the most freedom-enhancing way of connecting to a God who’s vantage point we can never achieve and can hardly imagine.  “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer”. (I Peter 3:12)

Prayer makes a difference in feeling the presence of God in your life.  Prayer is not my way of establishing God’s presence, rather as my way of responding to God’s presence that is a fact whether or not I can detect it.  My feelings of God’s presence – or God’s absence- are not the presence or the absence.  Prayer means keeping company with God who is already present.  God has time for you.  A God unbound by our rules of time has the ability to invest in every person on earth.  God has, quite literally, all the time in the world for each one of us.  “For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night” (Psalms 90:4).  

Contact with Him is not our achievement.  It is a gift coming down to us from on high like a meteor, rather   than rising up like a rocket.  God finds ways to communicate to those who truly seek God.  I need to think more about God than about myself when I am praying..

Prayer will make a difference in our lives in increasing our faith.  Before the words of prayer come to the lips, the mind must believe in God’s willingness to draw near to us, and in our ability to clear the path for His approach.  Such belief is the idea that leads us toward prayer.  “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6). The more we pray, the more faith we will have.

Prayer is something the poorest person can do.  Prayer is something any person can do regardless of their education.  Prayer is something a child can do or someone who is in their senior years.  Prayer is something  a person who is sick or well can do.  Prayer is something a person who is discouraged and away from God can do.

Prayer Really Does Make A Difference

(Book by Phillip Yancy)