One of my favorite portions in Scripture on prayer is from (1 John 5:14-15): “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” And I like what Andrew Murray said regarding prayer: “We must begin to believe that God, in the mystery of prayer, has entrusted us with a force that can move the Heavenly world, and can bring its power down to earth.”1 And isn’t that what prayer is. It’s moving the mighty hand of God to answer our petitions here on earth.
But just how does prayer work? In one sense it is a mystery because we are asking an unseen Being to act behind the scenes to do things that wouldn’t come to pass if we didn’t offer up believing prayer. And in some cases, we are asking God to do the impossible. For example, when we pray for the salvation of someone we are asking God to take someone who is totally dead in sin and resurrect their spiritually dead bodies to life. How God does this is a divine mystery but praise God we know from experience that there are many a praying mother that has brought about, through their prayers, the salvation of a wayward child.
We all know that prayer is powerful but how can we get this power? Charles Spurgeon, I believe, gives us a clue when he shared: “If you want that splendid power in prayer, you must remain in loving, living, lasting, conscious, practical, abiding union with the Lord Jesus Christ.”2 And isn’t this exactly what we read in Scripture: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7). When we are abiding in Christ we glorify the Father and we invoke His awesome power on our behalf. E. M. Bounds expresses this idea as follows: “Prayer is the greatest of all forces, because it honors God and brings him into active aid.”3
And not only is prayer and how it works mysterious, but it often is the only way to move the mountains and obstacles to the answers and changed situations we are seeking. J. Sidlow Baxter eloquently expressed this thought as follows: “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.”4
I have learned in my walk with the Lord not to try to figure out the mystery of prayer but to ask God to teach me to pray more effectively. May the following two great insights help you to pray more and with greater power:
One, according to E. M. Bounds: “Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in the closet.”5 We must develop the discipline of quiet time consistent closet prayer. This is not something to learn but to just do. And I believe that the closer we draw to Jesus, He will change our prayers from duty to delight and make our private prayer time one of the highlights of our day.
And two, Andrew Murray gives us great practical advice when he said: “Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!”6 I challenge you to take time to worship, praise, and thank Jesus for who He is and for what He has already done for you, before you go to Him in prayer. And by all means trust God to answer your prayers!
Christian, if your prayer life is not what it should be then why not ask the Lord to open your heart to the great privilege of communing with Jesus. May the admonition by John Mott below help you to see that prayer is the key to unlock the mysteries of heaven and rain down untold blessings: “The Church has not yet touched the fringe of the possibilities of intercessory prayer. Her largest victories will be witnessed when individual Christians everywhere come to recognize their priesthood unto God and day by day give themselves unto prayer.”7
1 TOP 25 QUOTES BY ANDREW MURRAY | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
2 TOP 25 CHRISTIAN PRAYER QUOTES (of 87) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
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