POWER IN PRAYER?

Yes, the title has a question mark.  Is there power in prayer?  This is one of the more popular sayings in life, especially today.  It’s a general statement applied to everyone.  The concept is – as long as anyone prays, God will answer.  Many Christians make the mistake of telling just about anyone that if we just pray God will answer.

Proverbs 28:9 NIV If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.

This is one of the verses of Scripture that should remind us that the phrase "there is power in prayer" is not biblical. God does not listen to just ANYONE or ANYTHING being prayed for. In this proverb it is clear – that God will not listen to someone who does not listen to and obey His law.  And it’s not just that God will not listen, but for someone who turns a deaf ear to God’s law his prayers are DETESTABLE.  Yes, God hears the prayer, but they are detestable to Him, for they come from a person that did not honor Him, and no desire to live according to His Word.

And this is why we need Christ.  ALL OF US turn a deaf ear to the law, which means that in default God detests our prayer.  But when we are in Christ He has taken away this barrier.  His sacrifice has not only forgiven us of our sin, but has destroyed the barrier we had with our heavenly Father.  As we come to Him in Christ, the Father listens to us.  This is why when we pray we come “in Jesus Name”.  He is our High Priest who intercedes for us when we pray.  This is not just something that we mention in our prayers, but something that we believe in our hearts.

Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  (15)  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.  (16)  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

When someone is in Christ not only is the barrier removed and we are able to approach God, but our hearts are also changed.  Our hearts are now re-focused to God, and not our self anymore.  This is what our Lord reminded us when He taught us how to pray:

Matthew 6:9-10 NIV  This, then, is how you should pray:  'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,  (10)  your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

When a believer prays He knows in his heart that God, his Father, is in heaven, and He is holy.  That He is King, and we are to live in His kingdom.  And in His kingdom it is His will that matters, not ours.  Prayer has nothing to do with us.  It's all about God.

We don’t just pray for anything and everything we want.  A Christian submits to the holiness, the reign and the will of the Father in Heaven.  This is what shapes and leads our prayers day by day.  And this is what makes our prayer powerful – not in the act, but in the One we are praying to.

There is no power in the act of prayer.  God is powerful, not prayer.  All power is with our God, not in anything that we do.  When our prayer is in submission to our Heavenly Father, His kingdom and His will, that is where the "power" is.  That is when our lives are now aligned with what He desires, what He wills, for us.  When He works in our life, according to His kingdom and will, that is when we see the working of His power.  And this is what every believer should desire to see.  It's not just about getting what we desire or ask for, but the blessing of partaking of what our holy God desires for us as we live with Him in His kingdom, and according to His will, seeing Him work in power in our life.