Prayer that makes a difference

Prayer isn’t always the most glamorous or exciting of activities. Praying is a central part of christian life, and one of the things made possible by Jesus's death on the cross. But prayer can feel tricky, sometimes hard and a little bit boring, especially when you pray but receive no answer. 

In the Bible there are a lot of examples of how God answers. He can answer right away in a mighty way, but sometimes people have had to wait a long, loooong time before their prayers have been answered. We can wish that there was a guide that could give you seven reliable tricks on how to have your prayers answered. Sorry to disappoint. But there are two things that might help you find the energy to keep praying. 

“Faith in God doesn’t come with a key, we take steps in faith with Jesus all the time.”

Firstly: expect both quick and slow answers. Faith in God doesn’t come with a key, we take steps in faith with Jesus all the time. It’s the same way with prayer, we pray and believe, and we can’t do more than that. We have to trust that our prayers end up right where God wants them and that He knows what He is doing, whether or not we get an answer the moment we say “amen”. It can help to think that something is going to start growing, but exactly what and where is up to God. 

But God is also a God that can answer your prayers tonight. Sometimes your prayers are like rockets that fly towards heaven and fire sparks! Expect that God listens to your words and that your words create activity in heaven. Maybe your prayer makes the seed that once was planted shoots a sprout from under the soil. 

“God wants us to keep praying and leave the rest to Him”

Secondly: What we know for sure from the Bible is that God wants us to come to Him in all phases of life and that God wants us to keep praying and leave the rest to Him. Prayer isn’t first and foremost a way to “get results” but a way to rest before Jesus, to leave our burdens to Him. That’s why prayer in itself is important, in the moment it happens and not just for what it can lead to. When we pray our faith in God's ability to step into our lives grows and it helps us to shift our focus from our strength to God’s strength

Let every day be a day that you say something to God. Skip the requirements of well spoken prayers, put down your thoughts of “praying correctly” and just dare to believe that God wants to hear what you have to say.