Why Pray?

What Happens When We Pray?

By Amy Weatherly 

Amy is a dear friend of mine and this was just an email she sent that she felt the Lord telling her to write to me in response to my question on prayer. I want to share this with you in hopes that it reaches you right where you are at in your life.  I am blessed to know and love this woman!

First of all, God is awesome and powerful and is capable of doing whatever He desires with or without the benefit or necessity of our prayers to move Him. In Isaiah, the Bible speaks of God’s sovereignty. “I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these” (Is 45:5-7). Also, Deut 32:39 says, “See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me; it is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded, and it is I who heal; and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.” God is unspeakably in control of all that happens in this country, this world, and this universe. I can count on it. It gives me great peace to know that someone besides me is controlling things!! However, it also brings to mind the following question: If God is sovereign, what possible power can my prayer have on a specific course of events? Basically, what good is prayer?

I am by no means the expert in this area, but after studying the word, reading what some great teachers on prayer have to say, and asking God what He wants me to tell you, this is my brief conclusion. Besides the major fact that prayer is commanded by both God and Jesus in the Bible, I believe that prayer has a two-fold purpose. One reason we pray is simply to know God more. I really don’t think we need to know ABOUT Him as much as we need to KNOW Him. I remember meeting a youth pastor once (different city), who was asked “What was your greatest experience at your previous church?” He proceeded to go on and on about the study “Experiencing God.” What was evident, however, is that he had experienced Experiencing God, not God Himself. It was all about the study and nothing about God. Prayer invites us to KNOW God, to converse, to cry, to listen, to praise, to glorify, to be still. We grow to trust God more when we know Him more. I believe that is the most important reason for prayer. We may have a specific agenda in mind, but God’s greatest agenda is just to KNOW Him more, because the reality of this life is that our time on earth is soooooo brief, just a speck of time, a blink of an eye in light of all eternity. And it is in eternity with God which is where we will be spending the large majority of our time. The enemy will try to discourage us and make us think it’s all about the here and now, but I am convinced there is so much more waiting on the other side. God knows that, too, which is why we need to know Him so well…we will be spending our life with Him.

In addition to knowing and trusting God more fully during prayer, I believe the other major reason for prayer is warfare. Even though God is sovereign, I am more convinced than ever, that there is a massive spiritual realm we do not see that exists all around us, in which a battle is constantly being fought. Sometimes, we aren’t even aware of the battle (the enemy is then winning). Sometimes we know something’s just not right but we don’t know why, and other times we sense the battle is at hand and we can run off to fight the enemy. The funny thing about spiritual warfare is that the Bible speaks of the “invisible realm” often and yet most Christians dismiss it as if it only happened “in the Bible times.” When Elisha was surrounded by enemy forces and his servant feared they would be defeated, Elisha prayed “Don’t be afraid…Those who are with us are more than those who are with them…O Lord, open his (the servant’s) eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord allowed the servant to see the previously invisible heavenly host, “the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:16-17) Paul clearly speaks about where our challenges lie in Ephesians 6:10-12 – “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood (other people!!), but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Spiritual warfare exists whether we choose to believe it or not. Prayer is God’s choice of weaponry for us as Christians, along with the word of God. Praying the word of God, by the way, is the most effective, bottom-line method of releasing God’s power. Remember, Satan has already lost the war. Read the end of the book-we win!! Christ has risen from the dead and with that one act comes an amazing power which can break any of Satan’s strongholds against us!! Stand in the assurance of your already-won victory and pray from that perspective, recognizing God’s power is your source of energy and strength. The combination of knowing God fully, His power, His glory, and His majesty, along with understanding our need for spiritual warfare makes for powerful prayer that can change lives!
For further reading:
Kay Arthur, The Sovereignty of God (a great little pamphlet which completely sums up the subject of God’s sovereignty)
Sylvia Gunter, Prayer Portions (the best book on prayer I have ever had; includes many powerful prayers that are effective and produce amazing results)
Hannah Whitall Smith, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life (this is an amazing book, but a little difficult to read as it was originally written in the 1800’s – I have a updated version, 1952 – but it is still challenging. Hard to read, but so worth it!!)