On this Easter I wonder about the power of prayer. Does the natural world work in its wondrous way or can things change by petitioning God with our needs? God knows our needs, so how much does praying change events in the world?
I have always been a pray-er and been part of prayer groups for many years. Prayer requests come now through the Internet from my church and through my two men’s groups. I know the needs for many people, some who I know well and some who are total strangers to me.
I use prayer to check in with God. He knows my needs, but my prayer time is a way of organizing my thoughts. I am a prayer warrior. My prayer time is structured, but it always leaves time to pray for others. My daily time includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication (ACTS).
In my time of adoration, I tell God how much I appreciate him (or her) in my life. It is a time of great praise. I know God is working even in the very mundane things that are going on. This is a time when I acknowledge that God exists.
In my time of confession, I tell God that I have fallen short of living a godly life. It sounds Catholic because they confess theirs sins to a priest, but other Christians do it, too. It seems redundant because God already knows how badly I acted, but I do it anyway to remind myself that I need to get my act together. It might be that I need to give more to the church or treat the poor in a more fair way, but I always have a lot to confess.
I have much to be thankful for. Even in my humble life, I have something to thank God for every day. It doesn’t take much time to count my blessings. Good health aided by a health care plan that costs me a pretty penny. A stable marriage in a nice community. Actually, I can think of new bounty every day.
The supplication part of my prayer is the part that has me stumped. Do I pray for big things like winning the lottery or a cure for cancer? Or do I lift up the daily needs of myself and others? Actually, this is a time I can do both.
I am not a pray partner like those people from the Pentecostal tradition who think that the more prayers that God hears, the faster He will react. I am not always sure what some of the strangers who show up in the prayer line seek in prayer. Is it healing? Is it comfort in suffering? I believe we are partners with God in helping others. Prayers of supplication, like other prayers, remind us of the needs of others.
There is a man in a Bible study I attend who has pancreatic cancer. He is doing remarkably well after being under doctor’s care and going through much treatment. We still pray for him every week. It is prayer that is keeping him strong. Others with his form of cancer have not made it so far. I know we are a source of encouragement for him. He endures a lot more pain than I could. Few of us pray that he not have pain, only that he live with it. He has a remarkable will to live that he possessed long before we started praying for him. Our prayers have not cured him, but we have been along for the journey.
Prayer works best for people who have faith in God. If people believe that prayer works and know that God is present, then their lives are most likely to change. I do not believe that prayer changes God’s will in the natural world (that’s my predestination background from the Presbyterian church), but I do believe we can partner with him in this world. We cannot change the circumstances of the man in my Bible study who suffers from cancer, because that is his fate, but we can walk beside him on his journey. He is not counting how many people are on the journey with him. He just knows that he is not alone.
Being a prayer partner helps the person who prays as much as the person in need. In the faith community, people are convinced that prayer works. Me, too. I have seen people’s attitudes change so much that they get well from an illness after prayer was offered for them. I believe that was the will of God. Prayer is a power force of nature in the world.
David A. Becker (evadgorf@comcast.net) of Pueblo is a reviewer of religion books who runs an Internet bookstore.
