Prayer Part 2: So Does It Actually Work?

The million dollar question, people: does prayer actually work? 

Giovanni Bellini's 'Agony in the Garden'

In some ways knowing there’s a God who is omnipotent makes life more difficult. When bad stuff happens, rather than just accepting it as the shit randomness of life, we feel like there’s someone to blame. I have been known to shake my fist at the sky and weep “Why God, why” at a missed bus, so it’s lucky that so far in my life, I have escaped having to deal with anything too seriously awful happening. But the day will sadly come, and when it does, will prayer actually make a difference?

The honest answer is Yes and No.

This answer is often mocked as being stupidly illogical. If your prayers are sometimes answered, and sometimes not, that’s just chance and coincidence! That’s the same outcome that would occur whether you were praying or not, right?

I understand this thought pattern even now. I’ve heard friends who have been job hunting for months cite their finally getting a position as an answer to prayer. “Praise God!" they say, as I cynically add in my head “Praise the job applications you’ve been making every day for five months, more like”.

But despite my occasional cynicism, I truly believe that, as God has assured us in Scripture, He always hears our prayers. I still believe that God can change all situations, even if the answers don’t always seem forthcoming.

Prayer isn’t like a cosmic cash machine – you don’t put in your request and your prize pops out.

What you’re praying for may not actually be right for you. It might require that big no-no - subverting another human being’s free will (into both of these categories fall things like praying for that douche-nozzle guy that always blanks you to finally realise you’re the One That He Wants).

What you’re praying for might not be in line with God’s values. God isn’t massively concerned with delivering cash windfalls, Mercedes Benz’, that dazzling promotion so you can rub it in Steve from Accounts’ face, making you thinner, more attractive, or gifting you with a rad new set of dance moves. God is not about ticking off our wish list, as much as we might like Him to be (especially that dance moves thing).

Sometimes the answer is still just No, in spite of the worthiness of our request – healing for a sick person, prayer for a marriage to work out, for loved ones to come to faith. If God answered each prayer like this, the world would no longer be the fallen place it is and Heaven would be here right now. A miracle is, by definition, a rare event. A lot of the time, when we pray, we won’t get the answer we were looking for.

So why still do it, Mofo? 

I still do it, often sporadically, sometimes half-heartedly, because I know it has value. Because I trust that God hears me and that He cares about my situation. I pray for loved ones because I never want to miss the opportunity to put in my request for them. And because this might be the occasion when miracles do happen.

I still do it because so often prayer is not about extracting my demands from God, but about God changing me from the inside out. The more I pray the more I get in line with his values, get outside my own concerns, find my heart softening, and start caring about the things He cares about.

On days when I pray for joy, I find that I am joyful. On days when I pray to do my job well, I find myself more productive. On days when I pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit, I find myself being more patient, compassionate and observant of other people’s needs. At the time of prayer I feel no rush of endorphins, or a meditative inner peace to indicate that through prayer I’ve just realigned my thinking. Yet it delivers none the less.

If you knew that you would have a better day, be filled with joy, be more compassionate, and more alive if you prayed, then wouldn’t you do it without fail? Erm, I’d like to say so, but I still often choose to sleep in, or forget and spend my evening watching ‘Mad Men’ instead. But God is always there, waiting, which is definitely worth trying again tomorrow for . . .

Have you ever had an amazing answer to prayer? Or a prayer disappointment? How do you deal with that?