Words to Grow On

May 12, 2008

PRAYER DOESN’T WORK

GOD WORKS!

By

Emily Fritz

“…all things are possible with God” (Mark 10: 27b)

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”  (Jeremiah 33:3)

              Great emphasis has been placed on prayer in recent months; and rightly so.  Without prayer, we have now fellowship with God.  We will not learn His will, how to pray, what to pray for or how much He loves to hear us and answer our requests.

              However, when we say, “prayer works” we focus on the wrong person, ourselves.  It is God that does the work of answering, solving problems, bringing peace and joy and meeting every need.  When God answers prayer and we say, “prayer works” we take some of the honor and glory for ourselves that surely belongs to God. 

              Here is a simple illustration.  We go to the hairdresser (God) because we have problem hair that we can no longer fix.  If we arrive at the beauty salon with a scarf over our head, it will need to come off.  We may be embarrassed at how bad our problem is, but the beautician can do nothing about it if she/he can’t get to it.  So, we are honest and reluctantly remove the covering.

              But there are ribbons or hairpins that must be removed, as well.  The pony tail has to go.  We may foolishly ask, “Can’t you work around them?”  Of course not!  The hairdresser needs our cooperation; so does God.  He will want to change us.  He does not want to work around our stubborn habits.

              And then, our cell phone goes off!  It is an “emergency” and we must leave before the job is done.  Interruptions to prayer time happen often.  Sometimes, we simply cannot concentrate.  Our mind wanders and we never learn what God wants to tell us.

              Intercessory prayer is bringing others to God.  He will hear our prayer for them, but they must also cooperate.  God gives us all free will.  He will not force people to change.  All we can do is keep praying that God’s Holy Spirit will continue to speak to their hearts.

              So, for Heaven’s sake, keep praying.  And give God all the glory and praise for listening and working to answer us.