Prayer Is Work

The question is often debated, "Does prayer work?" Prayer, in this sense, referring to petition or what is commonly called intercession. The conclusion always seems to be, "usually not." Sure, there are stories of, shall we say, "incredible coincidences". But there are also far too many stories of unanswered prayer, of futile pleadings, of tears that were apparently seen by no one and petitions that apparently went unheard. 

One response to this, is to disregard intercessory prayer altogether. It has often been said that the real power in prayer is not that it changes things, but that it changes us.  

Of course, prayer does change us - and oftentimes that is what we most need. But reducing it to a personal subjective experience completely dodges the question of whether anyone is listening on the other end - and particularly, anyone capable of actually doing anything.

But perhaps we're asking the wrong question. Asking the wrong questions will, at best, give useless answers. The right question is, "What is prayer?"

The answer: prayer IS work. That is, when it comes to the effect of our prayers on anyone or anything outside of ourselves.

In prayer, we join with God in His work in this world. We co-labor in the task of making things "on earth as [they are] in Heaven." And as with all work, some jobs are easy and some are extremely difficult. Usually we know ahead of time which are which, but not always: occasionally we are surprised at the ease with which something is accomplished, or shocked with the difficulty of a supposedly simple task. And once in a while, we attempt something so monumentally difficult that our efforts seem to be in vain. But more often, we find that even if we didn't accomplish what we hoped for, we have made more progress than if we never lifted a finger.

A scientist can invest years of effort studying something, only to discover little or nothing of interest. A businessperson can invest hundreds of hours in a deal, only to have it fall through. A salesperson can visit clients for 80 hours a week and not reach his quota. A politician can expend all her time, energy and money only to lose the election.

Do we then conclude that, "science doesn't work," or "business doesn't work," or "sales doesn't work," or "campaigning doesn't work?" No. We realize that some things are more difficult than others, and thus less likely to succeed - but the more effort we expend, the more likely we are to at least accomplish something.

That's the nature of ALL work.

Here are three examples from my own prayer life - two successes and one failure.

1. A few years before meeting The Lady, I briefly dated a woman I met through eHarmony. (Thankfully, it did not work out). As we said goodbye after our first date, I told her, "Have a good night," and flippantly added, "sleep well" (as it was very late). She responded, "Oh, I never do. I have terrible nightmares every night." I couldn't imagine trying to live life without a single night of good rest. Every night for the rest of the week - and without telling her - I prayed for her nightmares to cease, confidently rebuking them (and the Enemy behind them) in the name of Jesus. The next time I saw her, I asked about the nightmares. She hadn't had one all week.

2. One night in Kuwait, while The Lady was at a church retreat, I had an epiphany: there was one thing she needed to believe, in order to find healing and begin growing closer to the Lord after what had happened to us in the previous year. But I knew that telling her to believe it would be futile, if not counterproductive. She had to believe it for herself. Plus, her phone was off for the entire retreat. So I prayed that she would conclude that God had proved His love to her through Jesus' suffering on the cross, and thus she did not need to question it despite her own suffering. The morning after the retreat, she proceeded to tell me how she had come to realize that God had proved His love to her through Jesus' suffering on the cross, and thus she did not need to question it despite her own suffering.

3. During our 10 months in Kuwait, we invested hundreds of hours, more than $12000, and all of our prayers towards completing a home study to adopt from Ethiopia. You can read here how that turned out: the same way as our first pregnancy, for which I had also prayed daily. Those losses did more than all the bad news and depressing stories I had ever heard to damage my faith in the power of prayer. It was a long time before I could believe God for anything again.

Nightmares are easy. Spiritual growth in an open heart is easy. Adoption is hard. Some other things that are hard: stopping someone from dying, changing the course of an entire civilization, toppling a corrupt regime, healing the blind or paralyzed, saving a failing marriage, and bringing to repentance those who are far from God.

Yes, it is true that prayer does change me. But prayer can change others, or situations. In prayer, I join with God in His work. Some of this work is easier than I thought it would be. Some is harder than I imagined.

But all of it is worthwhile, and most of it is more effective than doing nothing.