The Power of Prayer

For many people, prayer is really difficult.  The idea of talking to someone you cannot see, cannot physically feel and who never answers back in the normal sense, well - it just seems like one step away from madness.  Prayer is however, one of the most important aspects of the Christian life.

When I was a child, my Mum had a wooden plaque in the bedroom with the words 'Prayer Changes Things' on it.  As I've grown up, I have realised how true those words are.  Her old scrapbook contains another quote 'Prayer doesn't change things, it changes people'.  I have to admit that from my own personal experience, the latter is so true.  Sometimes God's answer to our prayers isn't to change what is happening, but to simply equip us to deal with it.  It doesn't matter whether it's a problem at work, a sick relative, or frustrations about our future direction - God's answer isn't always what we want to hear, but he does nevertheless equip us to walk the path that is before us.

The hardest thing of course, is when someone we know is seriously ill, many people pray for that speedy recovery, but it just doesn't  happen.  They get worse, or the battle is lost and we must face a future without them.  That can be difficult, difficult for those who have prayed, difficult for those who have sought that prayerful support.

For years, I prayed for my severely disabled Mum - that the pain of her rheumatoid arthritis would be taken away.  It wasn't.  She had some periods of remission, that is true, but the progression continued in a painful downward spiral.  In her latter years, severe leg ulcers removed what little dignity she had left and it was simply agonising to see her suffer so much.  Faith was stretched to the absolute limit, often I feared that it would reach breaking point, and there were times when I was almost at breaking point.  I faltered, but I did not fall.

Paul too pleaded with God to remove his 'thorn in his flesh', time and time again he pleaded that it would be taken away, but the message that came back was that God's strength is made perfect in weakness.  All too often our prayers are for the removal of the difficult things, the painful things that impact on our daily lives, when perhaps our prayers of request need to be balanced with adoration, confession and dedication.

When I was a young person attending the local Gospel Hall in Belfast where I grew up, we were told that seven days without prayer makes one weak.  It's true, for there is nothing more blessed than to feel the warmth of God's presence with us in our daily lives, for I can truly say that God has heard and answered my prayers, even in the times when the difficulties have remained, God has changed me.