How Effective is Prayer? Part 1: Effect and Affect

December 11, 2010

James 5:16
"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results."

What kind of prayer are you? I can assure you after this series your prayer life will change. There are many types of prayers, there are the those who pray when they need something, there are those who will pray when they feel like there is no where else to turn, and there are those who pray the "gimmie, gimmie" prayer.
According to the Bible prayer may take the form of adoration, praise, communion, waiting upon God, hearing God speak, receiving divine guidance, fellowship with God, self examination before God, confession, repentance, meditation, and worship. Prayer, like love, us a "many-splendored thing." You might ask though, if God's purposes are eternally unchanging what good does it do to pray? In view of providentially sustained regularities of nature, prayer seems pointless. Or is it? It is believed by many that prayer can only affect not only the one who prays and the spiritual world, but also the physical world. God's eternal purpose was not to exclude human petition, but to grant certain things only in answer to prayer. Providentially prayer has power over all that over which God himself has power. As a request to an all-wise God prayer may or may not be granted. God may say "Yes," "No," or "Not Yet." I want to smack people who say God didn't answer their prayer, and they say that because He didn't say yes. Oh the immaturity....it kills me!! God chooses to respect His children's requests, it is no more strange that my prayer should affect events than that my other actions should do so.
Prayer can affect our lives as the prayer. When we pray to our Father, he hears us and gives us encouragement and strength. God cares deeply for His children. Isaiah 58:9-11 "Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring." He speaks to us, how can that not affect us? We become convicted when he starts talking to us. We can also become renewed and refreshed. He gives us joy and peace. These are all things in an emotional realm, things that are not tangible...but can still makes us happy.
So what about others? We tell others we pray for them, are our prayers spiritually effecting them? Yes, our prayers can spiritually effect others lives. If we humble ourselves and when we do pray, God will hear us. Paul especially prayed the most beautiful prayers for fellow believers, that their spiritual lives would grow and in understanding and in love. Our prayers for family and church family alike is the foundation for koinoina in the church. It can only be accomplished through others praying for one another to the Father. When I pray, there are times that I pray directly from scripture. Praying is communing with the Lord, and as I said in my last post, it is through the Holy Spirit of Jesus that we can love one another, it is through him that will bind us together. Here are some powerful prayers: Eph.1:18-19, 3:16-21; Phil.1:9-11; Col.1:9-12; Philemon 6; Heb.13:20-21.
Can prayer effect the physical world? Yes! Take for example these 2 verses. Acts 16:25-26 "Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!" That effected the physical world. Paul and Silas were giving praise to God, and as a result God allowed the prison to release them. Pretty incredible! James 5:13-18 "Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.
16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops."
I am particularly taken by Elijah, that his prayers moved God to not allow it to rain! WHAT?! That effected the physical world. Do you see how awesome our God is?!
That is the power of prayer!
In the next post we will see for what reasons our requests are sometimes refused, and the virtues we must possess for God to hear us.