Prayer is not a good luck charm

“The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:6

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James 5:13-16

I’ve seen many prayers answered and it is an awesome experience. I’ve also seen God work and answer prayers I should’ve prayed, but didn’t. And I know I have not because I ask not, the problem is, I don’t even know what I don’t have. 

The lack of prayer means I lose out on the relationship God intends for me to have with Him. 

Prayer is not a magic wand. But there are people out there that we go to for prayer because we know their prayer will be answered. They aren’t super humans and the only thing they have that we don’t, is a strong faithful prayer life. One persons prayer isn’t more magical than another. We all have the same resources. Some of us under use our resources, or lack in faith  and trust. Or maybe we need to get the focus off of ourself. Maybe we need to start with prayer for ourself, for our Heavenly Father to clean us up and show us Him. 

Prayer gets a bad rap. Probably because too many of us use the word loosely. This word “praying” should be used with purpose and promise that should never be broken. 

Have you ever felt so badly for somebody that all you know what to say is, pray about it, or I’m praying for you? It’s not a bad thing to say, in fact it is the first thing we should all do. But, we must then immediately pray or commit to praying. Too many times the word is used as a consoling word that means nothing unless executed. 

Do we trust that God answers our prayers? If we really believe what we’re saying, why don’t we offer to pray with the person? That’s a hard thing for me, way out of my comfort zone. And in the back of my mind I’m thinking, what if the prayer isn’t answered? I’ll make a fool out of myself and discredit myself and God. 

God didn’t tell us to answer the prayer, He said to pray the prayer. This is something that the Holy Spirit has just recently convicted me of. I am not God and I do not answer the prayers! 

Do we trust God to answer prayer? The problem is, I think, we expect the prayers to be answered the way we think they should be, and I’m glad they’re not. God never lets us down no matter what we think. We are told to pray. Let’s do our part, and trust God to do His. 

Many times He does not answer the prayer the way we think it should be answered. But that doesn’t mean He didn’t answer it. 

And when we pray, do we really want Gods will or ours? 

Thought provoking questions for me as well as you! I’d love to see your comments!