Does prayer really work In These Hard Times?
Question is, Does prayer really work? Yes, my friend! It works all the time! But you have a role to play. When I became a Christian some twenty-plus years ago, this was a question I often asked myself and those I considered to be older than me in the faith. I mean, I had just come from a world where praying was the last thing one thought of when confronted with a challenging situation.
So as a baby Christian, when I was asked to pray, my first reaction would be, “Does praying really work?” I was timid. Will God hear my prayer let alone answer me? Where do I start? I just got my salvation a few months ago, how do I even know what words to use? Doesn’t God recall my past life of sin and can He even look at my prayer request?
Then one day something happened. It was a “big something”. This big thing went on to affect our lives as a family for almost twenty years. At the time this happened my wife and I had just established an IT Consulting and Accounting firm. We were doing great until this big thing happened in our business and family life.
Our business collapsed almost in an instant. Our family especially the children got the brunt of it. Remember this was just about the time I had given my life to the Lord. My wife had gotten saved a year before I did. For the next many years (almost 20 years) we were fighting a legal battle not to lose our home. The dust finally settled in early 2019 and we could sigh with joy at the greatness of God. Every time we look back at this event we see the greatness of God in our lives. Again, does prayer really work? Yes!
Throughout the 20+ years of legal battle, we had no choice but to look up to God. Will praying really work, we would ask ourselves. Yes, it surely must work. We encouraged ourselves. It must work all the time. We learned to pray to this mighty God. We learned to praise and worship this great God. This is when I came to understand that I actually had the gift of a ‘voice’ to worship God with. In the first church we attended as a family, (all brand new believers), I was asked to lead worship from time to time even as a ‘young’ believer.
It all came out of the hard time we were experiencing. As a family, we got so focused on learning everything we could from his word and the Holy Spirit. When I say “we” I am referring to everyone in the household. We explained what we were going through to the children. They understood. They gave their lives to King Jesus. They got committed to the teachings of the word. This became priority one. Result? Every one of them brought home great reports. School results? Excellent!
Together as a family, we got active in our local church including running a “home cell” in our home. Does praying really work? You bet it will. I have experienced it firsthand. Whether it’s healing or business, let’s just say in every area of my life and that of my family, we have experienced prayer being answered.
Does praying really work? From personal experience? Yes, it does work. Especially in this time of hardship, God turned around for good what was meant for evil. We really saw the hand of the Lord at work. I can only describe it as a miracle turnaround even with all the challenges we experienced.
I didn’t intend to write about this great testimony of our lives as a family. Going that way is meant to help someone right now in these hard times. It’s in the time such as I have talked about in the above paragraphs that we saw the family really bonding together.
As parents, the Lord gave us the grace to lead our family to levels of faith that we ourselves could not comprehend. It was in these hard times that we got to understand the workings and leading of the Holy Spirit. It was in these times that we learned to make decisions based on the teachings and counsel of the Holy Spirit and in his word.
We got to learn that scripture or God’s word is forever settled. No one can change it. It is in times such as we are seeing in the lockdown all over the world that God will show himself strong. His word says his might comes alive in your weakness. Has the quarantine or shutdown affected you and your family? It’s time to raise your faith. Pray. Nothing is impossible with God’s only belief.
Will praying really work? Take a look at this verse of scripture.
Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God!”
Mark 11: 22
When you have faith as the scriptures say, you come into partnership with the divine. Your side of the partnership is to be in the faith. So the faith you put into this is more than sufficient to activate whatever you want to see done. By the way, everyone’s faith is unique to them and incomparable. It’s between you and God my friend.
Let’s continue with scripture in the book of Mark.
(23) “I can guarantee this truth: This is what will be done for someone who doesn’t doubt but believes what he says will happen: He can say to this mountain, ‘Be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it will be done for him.
Mark 11: 23-25
(24) That’s why I tell you to have faith that you have already received whatever you pray for, and it will be yours.
(25) Whenever you pray, forgive anything you have against anyone. Then your Father in heaven will forgive your failures.”
What is your understanding of these three verses? Do you see each verse individually and how it stands out? Do you see the place of verse 25 and how it impacts the other two preceding it?
Yes, you may pray, but it’s not all about God. He answers every prayer but you have a role to play my friend. I can quote hundreds of scriptures in the Bible and give examples of how and where God has answered prayer. In the majority of those answered prayers the individuals or groups of people played their part.
We are experiencing a pandemic right now. The question is, does prayer really work even in these difficult times? The pandemic appears to be unsettling. It is so dangerous that it has even been given two names instead of one; coronavirus a.k.a covid-19! Just the mention of these two names sounds evil to me. So evil has come against us. The only way to counter and defeat evil is in the name of Jesus.
But how do you use that name of Jesus? A name that has been given authority in the heavens and on earth? Quickest way? Believe in the name; then speak the name in prayer. And as you speak the name of Jesus against that evil, by faith believe that the evil is done away with. By the time you finish praying focus by faith on what you have believed and meditate upon it.
That’s it. Oh, I just remembered, you have a teacher and counselor standing by you all the time. That is the Holy Spirit. He is the one who will teach you to pray. He is not a force as some people refer to Him. He is a person and is ready to lead you. He is the one who gives you assurance when you are in doubt, and ask yourself, “does prayer really work?” So, only believe. Most likely you have already encountered him in His word.
As I conclude, I have shared with you my life experience with prayer in the challenge that we faced both individually and as a family. I have also shared how that situation has played a powerful role in our Christian walk. I would never trade that place for anything else!
Once again, does prayer really work? learned together with my family how depending on God is key to living a life of peace. Like Paul, I can say I have known great times of abundance and times of lack, but in all this, no one can shake us from devoting our lives to the great God who parted our Red Sea.
One day I will share the “big something” that I refer to in my life’s story above. It’s a testimony that up to now still amazes us. The extended family members and some of our friends who got to know about our challenged situation up to now can only say, “God is GREAT”. So once more, “Does prayer really work?”, or let’s say it in other words, “does praying really work?” Especially in hard times such as the ones we find ourselves in as humanity? I can safely say to you again, a thousand times, YES!
Maybe as you have read this short post you are asking yourself, does prayer really work? is it possible for you to have this kind of faith and belief? Or perhaps you don’t really have a relationship with this God that I have talked about here. Simple my friend. I am standing by. Reach out to me here. I am ready to help you in your Christian walk.
Maybe you’re still doubting, does praying really work? get intouch. Let’s connect.
Does praying really work? Do you have something to say about it? The comment box right below is waiting for your feedback. What is your response to the question, “Does prayer really work?” What do you think? Comment below.
Stay Blessed and Inspired.
