Prayer is Effective
Why do we pray? We said yesterday that it’s because God expects it and longs for that time with us, His children. But in the end, I want to suggest that we pray because it’s effective.
It’s effective at building a relationship with God, absolutely. It’s effective at engaging us with the God most High, nothing else is as effective.
But prayer is also effective at making a difference. Sir Matthew Hale, an English legal scholar, once said, “If I omit praying and reading God’s Word in the morning, nothing goes well all day.” And Martin Luther is quite famous for his words, “I have so much to do that I cannot get on without three hours a day praying.”
Prayer is effective. Prayer works!
Avoiding Prayer
I suspect that for many people, real time in prayer is avoided because they aren’t really convinced that it’s going to make a difference. They think “God has made up His mind and so why should I pray?”
Firstly, that shows how often we make the mistake of thinking that prayer is mostly about a shopping list that we bring to God, instead of it being engaging with God in friendship and fellowship.
But it’s also a mistake to think that prayer doesn’t move God, that it doesn’t affect Him. Prayer does move God to action in some cases – as EM Bounds wrote, “Only God can move mountains, but faith and prayer move God!”
God’s Sovereignty
Now, some people hear that, and they think blasphemy! No human can ever change God on anything! In fact this is one of the great fights among Christians! Some groups of churches believe that God’s sovereignty means he cannot be swayed, our human free will has no impact on Him, He does as He wills and that is that.
Others – including us Nazarenes and those who would call themselves Wesleyan or Arminian – see in the Bible a wonderful co-working between God and humans.
A great example of this is Paul’s words in 1 Tim 2:3-4, where he speaks of “God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
God WANTS or WILLS all people to be saved. But not all people are saved. Some reject him. We have to work with God for His will to be effective in the most direct sense.
God’s Will Still Prevails
Of course, we believe God does use our free will to bring about his ultimate will. In other words, while we do not do everything God wants us to do, He still finds a way to bring about His will for the world in the end. That’s what makes Him God.
But the point today is this: Prayer does move God.
Have you been avoiding prayer because you think it’s pointless? You think it makes no difference? Think again! Prayer moves God. Though He is sovereign and powerful and above all – our prayers move Him.
Get praying today. God is waiting for you to engage with Him, and your prayers will be effective at moving His heart, you can be sure.
