Why Does Prayer Matter?
Why Does Prayer Matter?
I’m sure you have one, too—that list of New Year’s resolutions you fully intend to keep all year. I’m also reasonably confident that by the time you receive this edition of The Messenger, you’ve already (like me!) dropped the ball on a few of them. Each year, I’m intrigued by what makes some changes in behavior stick (I really don’t drink sodas anymore) and others not (I really don’t get up at 5:30 each morning to workout).
I’m fairly convinced that it has to do less with personal strength of character and more with the why of what you’re trying to get done. The moment that the why for getting an extra hour of sleep outweighs the why of working out…well, we all know what happens.
Friend, I am resolved this year to pray for the God of the Mission to send forth workers and to bless the work of their hands.
Why?
Well, because prayer matters.
Why?
Now that’s a good question, and it’s one I often struggle with. Jesus told us to pray. He modeled praying for us, but yet I find very few Christians (and even fewer missionaries) who would say they are satisfied with their prayer lives. Perhaps then our why for praying needs some work, because there are evidently some competing why’s out there.
Prayer is one of the ways that God invites us to join Him in His mission. He could have chosen any means to get His will done on earth as it is in heaven. He is, after all, in charge. He chose, though, to involve us in the breaking-in of the Kingdom through our prayers. As we align ourselves with Him in prayer, He changes the world, and He brings us to maturity.
So why do we pray? Because He told us that when we His people (who happen to have been called by His name), humble ourselves, seek His face, turn from our wicked ways, and pray, He will hear us from heaven and heal our land. The healing of lands (and the people in them) happens at least in part because we pray. Prayer is both how we get people out into the field (it is the Lord of the Harvest who sends out reapers) and how they remain effective once there.
If that’s all true, then why is it so hard to maintain a regular rhythm of prayer?One answer we often discount is that we have an enemy who stands opposed to us praying. As our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, sometimes he tries to devour us in one gulp with massive attacks. At other times, he nips away at us, bit by bit, attacking our prayer life through weapons like distractions, an inability to see God’s answers, and boredom. In my experience, sometimes the latter strategy winds up far more effective in derailing my efforts to pray.
Let’s lean a bit more into one of those attacks—boredom. It shames me to say it, but I sometimes find myself bored when speaking to the Almighty. When I feel bored talking to the Creator of Everything, it’s a certain sign my prayer life has grown anemic. I’m spending too much time asking God generically to bless certain people, asking Him to be with others. When I let myself fall into the pattern of talking to God all the time about the stuff I want to talk about, I actually find myself bored (we’ll save for another day how my wife must feel when I only talk to her about the things I want to talk about!).
Thankfully, God has given us an amazing prayer resource that we too-often neglect—His word! In the Bible, we have a record of the things God wants to talk to us about. If we use His word to help shape the words we speak back to Him, we’ll find our prayer life bursts into color. The conversation will instantly become more robust. Praying the Scriptures both equips and challenges us to pray, not just more, but better prayers because we are now talking to God about the things He has already talked to us about!
To show you what I mean, let’s go back to the passage I referenced earlier. I’ll illustrate for you how I might go about praying 2 Chronicles 7:14-16. These words were spoken by God one night to Solomon after he completed the temple. The words of Scripture are in bold; my prayers are italicized.
If my people, who are called by my name,
Gracious Father, thank you for allowing me the incredible privilege of being called by Your name! Thank You that I walk this earth called a Christian, that I bear the name of the Christ. What a gift, particularly when I consider how often I’ve dirtied my own name!
will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven,
Lord, I want to humble myself, to pray, to seek Your face, and to turn from wickedness, but I confess that I have not always done so—in fact, have really yet to do so today! Lead me to become a humble, prayer-full, Christ-seeking follower of Yours. And, please, Father, never stop listening from heaven to Your servant.
and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
I need forgiveness, Lord. We need forgiveness. And as I look around at our land—at the nations, at our churches, at our homes—we know our land needs healing. Please do so!
Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
Thank You, God, for Your earthly presence in the temple then—and especially for Your promise that, through the Holy Spirit, You have now chosen to make me Your dwelling place! Consecrate me in this new year to the service of Your name. Thank You that Your words are true and that Your eyes and heart are with me. Amen.
Whether alone, in small groups, or in worship assemblies, I have found that the practice of praying the Scriptures breathes new life and vitality into anemic, colorless prayers.
Finally, having spoken much about the why of praying, a word about how you can join us in prayer. We believe that God has called MRN into three specific initiatives:
The MedRim Initiative, focused on Muslims living around the Mediterranean Rim, many of whom are refugees.
The Bengal Initiative, focused on the unreached Hindu and Buddhist people groups living in the countries surrounding the Bay of Bengal.
The Emerging Leadership Initiative, a partnership with servant leaders around the world to disciple emerging leaders in their cultural contexts.
Will you join us in praying for these initiatives? To help you, we’ll be sending out monthly initiative prayer updates. Most months, these will be crafted to help you pray for all these initiatives. During certain seasons, though, we will ask you to focus on one specific initiative.
If you already receive the MedRim prayer emails, you don’t need to do anything—you’re already signed up! But if you don’t already receive prayer updates from us, simply click here and scroll to the bottom of the page until you see “Join the Prayer Team."
May the Lord listen from on high and respond every time you call on Him! And may you even wind up following through on at least one or two of those New Year’s resolutions!
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What’s New?
Parents of Global Workers Retreat | January 10-11 | Dallas, TX
MRN and Pioneer Bible Translators are joining forces to put on our annual Parents of Global Workers Retreat in 2020. This exciting weekend will give you a better understanding of how to parent/grandparent the missionaries in your family as they live out their calling. You will have the opportunity to meet other parents, share stories, and encourage one another. The cost is only $30 and will cover your meals and materials. If you need helping booking your hotel at a special rate, please contact Mark Brazle.
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IMPRINT | January 16-18 | Dallas, TX
IMPRINT is an interactive, collaborative training experience designed to build your competence and confidence to learn how to make disciples. You’ll engage in a hands-on learning journey where we will walk you through the scriptural call of disciple making so you can use your personality to reach your community, lead others to discover Jesus, and develop a robust prayer life.
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