Prayer

Rom.8:²⁶ “A similar thing happens when we pray. We are weak and do not know how to pray, so the Spirit steps in and articulates prayers for us with groaning too profound for words.” (Voice)

What does prayer mean to you? From my interactions with people, it is pretty clear to me that we all need to understand prayer better. Some people say, what is in prayer? Is it not just to pray to God? However, you will be surprised that most times people are off course because of a lack of understanding, or maybe they get disillusioned. So, for the next few weeks, we will be focusing on prayer. We will begin with a big picture approach and then by God’s grace, press into the mysteries and benefits of prayer. Can you say confidently that God answers prayers? Why? Does this mean  God has answered all your prayers? What is the most powerful thing you have experienced in prayer?

Prayer is so powerful. My mind always tries to understand the mechanics of things, that is how my mind works. It is no different in my walk with God and my engagement with prayer. I have tried to figure out how prayer works. Take a camera, for instance, most people just appreciate it for what it is – a camera that takes pictures. But for me, I want to know how it works. My mind wants to know what is behind the covers that make it take pictures. How is it organized? What is the connection, the layout, and what is the architecture that drives it? When it comes to prayer, I was, and I am still baffled because I still honestly don’t know how prayer works. I know that there is a God in heaven, we pray to Him, and the answers come. But the details of the dynamics of prayer I still don’t fully understand but I know prayer works.

Prayer is so powerful that we cannot fully understand how it works but the effects and the result of prayer are undeniable. In fact, with prayer, it is not everything that we experience that we can explain. A prayerful person is a powerful person. A prayerless person is a powerless person. Prayer is so crucial that it is totally indispensable. There is a man of God called John Knox. John Knox is known for prayer. When he meets you and shakes your hand, his greeting is, ‘Do I meet you praying?’ And while still shaking your hand, the next thing is, ‘Can we pray for this sister, can we pray for this nation, can we pray?’ Before you know it, one hour has passed and you are holding his hands, sweating and praying. So people began to greet him from a distance.

The queen of Scotland says about the prayer of John Knox, ‘I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all the assembled armies of Europe’. In other words, she fears his prayers more than the German army, the Russian army, the English army, the Scottish army put together. And so, she never wanted to offend John Knox or his God. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, may God raise people in this nation that the president, the governors, and the ruling bodies of this nation will fear their prayers and never want to offend their God.

Prayer: Precious Holy Spirit, please step in and teach me to pray as I ought to,  articulate my prayers, and set me in alignment with God’s heart, in Jesus Name. Amen!