A number of years ago I watched a TV show the claim that ‘prayer does not work’. A uni study supposedly showed that it makes no difference and yet this supposed ‘study’ is inconsistent with many previous studies into the reality of prayer. Reflecting the bias of the TV editor the part of the program I watched did not speak to people who actually had real life experiences instead they spoke to someone from the Australian Skeptics who of course would never admit to the power of prayer even if it cost him all he owned.
So do you pray ? It is easy to feel that God is too busy to be interested in you. But if you think God is too big or too busy for you then you are very wrong. How do you know if God is interested in you?
God has not left us guessing if he cares. For instance, in less than a month’s time we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Of course anyone with any knowledge about Christmas knows it is simply a date chosen to remember the coming into this world of God’s own Son, Jesus. The date is irrelevant but the significance of the event is mind blowing. Of course God is interested in us – he sent his son into the world to save it.
There are many ways God shows his interest and one I wanted to mention is prayer. If God was not interested in you personally he would not allow you to speak to him in prayer. What a wonderful gift God has given us. It is like our personal direct phone line to the creator of the world that we can use any time of the day or night. It is never engaged and you will not be put on hold.
Prayer is part of the lives of many people whether or not they have a strong religious belief. At times of crisis, illness or tragic circumstances lots of people send up cries for help, but sadly they cannot always tell me much about the God they are praying to. So what is Christian prayer?
Whilst the God of the Bible (not the god of a person’s own imagination) is not like a home handy man that only comes over to fix the current problem of life he does care about each of us and desire that we get to know him as he really is. Christian prayer is all about a relationship with God, it tells us that God is approachable, that God is interested, that God wants you to know him, that God actually wants you to ask him for help and guidance.
Along with the testimony of millions of faithful Christians showing us that God really does answer prayer there are the actual promises of God saying that he will always answer prayer. Of course God will not always give us what we want, but he will always answer our prayers.
Can I encourage you to be people who pray. Phil 4:6-7 says “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.