The Power of Prayer?

Throughout my life, I have heard countless Christians talk about the "power of prayer". I have also heard people call others "men of prayer". What exactly is this supposed to mean? Does a person's prayer have some sway over God's will?

Mankind cannot change God's will through prayer. There are two misunderstandings about prayer that I want to address. I will only address one of them in this post and leave the second for a post next week. The first misconception is that Christians have a mystical tool called prayer. I see among many evangelical Christians that they hold to a view that if we bombard God with a multitude of petitions, He will relent and answer our prayer. They seem to think that their prayer should be answered. As I mentioned earlier, many Christians seem to think that some particular believers have some sort of special access to God through the prayer line because they can pray so eloquently. However, we must note that Paul never persuaded people with eloquence of words. Therefore, God cannot be persuaded by how grandiose our prayers are.

Unfortunately, the Christians who feel that prayer - in and of itself - is powerful become discouraged when their prayers are unanswered. I recall listening to an older Christian who frustratedly confessed that God refused to answer any of his prayers... as if He had to. He was bitter towards the Lord because He [God] seemed to do the exact opposite of what he [the Christian] was praying. Another Christian posed the question to the disgruntled believer: "do you think you are praying outside of God's will?" This is a great question to keep in our minds because we can often pray for things that we want and not want what God wants. Many Arminian Christians become frustrated with God when He chooses to act outside of their "free" will. The free will belief does not yield to God's sovereignty and especially does not yield in the matter of prayer. Rather, the free will belief harbors the misconception that Christians wield some superstitious power called prayer. What they fail to realize is that the power is not in prayer nor the believer who speaks the prayer, but the power belongs to God and God's will to be done. There is no power if I utter words about life, death, healing, evil, or good. The power is in God's sovereign, omnipotent will. I must stress that God's will is going to be accomplished. Period. Man's will, even in the matter of prayer, does not supersede the will of the Lord Almighty.

"Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were written all the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." ~ Psalm 139:16 (NASB)

Most Christians understand that the Lord has ordained a number of days for each of us to live. When our appointed time comes to die, then we face the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Hypothetically, let us assume that you are sick and dying. So you and your family immediately beg of the Lord to spare you and heal your body. If the Lord has already predetermined to take your life on this coming Wednesday, will your prayers change His will? Will the prayers of many Christians change His will for your life? The answer to both questions is "no". Not every prayer that we pray will be answered in the way we desire. God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). We can no more change the will of God than Moses, Elijah, or even Jesus. If you recall, Jesus asked God the Father while in the Garden of Gethsemane if there was a way for the cup to pass from Him. Matthew 26:39 says that "He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.'" Even though Christ did not want to suffer the pain and agony of a horrible death, He was willing and submissive to the will of the Father. God the Father's will did not change at the behest of His beloved Son. Since God's will does not change, Jesus was able to be our spotless Lamb and perfect sacrifice when we could never be. The death of Christ is a beautiful picture of submissiveness to the Father's will. Isaac was willing to be sacrificed at the hand of his father Abraham, but Isaac could not be the sacrifice. He was not the perfect sacrifice. Jesus did not want to die a brutal death. He even prayed for the cup to pass from Him. But since He knew that the Father's will was going to be fulfilled, He willingly submitted out of love for His Father and love for us. It is a breathtaking message of love, sovereignty, justice, forgiveness, submission, and redemption.

There is no power in our prayers. The power all belongs to God. When you pray, remember to say as Jesus said, "yet not as I will, but as You will."