Underutilizing the Power of Prayer Part 2
The Focus of Prayer
Don’t Underestimate God’s Power: Isaac Watts had a song that went, “I sing the mighty power of God that made the mountains rise, that spread the flowing seas abroad and built the lofty skies.” We can tap into that same level of power through prayer.
James 5:16 (NKJV) Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
James 5:16 says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (NIV).
James 5:16 (NLT2) Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
None of us are righteous in ourselves (though we should be growing in personal holiness), but we are righteous in that Name for whose sake we pray. And because of that Name our prayers are:
(1) powerful and (2) effective. The Greek word James used for “powerful” is polis, which means “much” or “plentiful.” The word “effective” is ischyei, which means “to be very capable, to have strength.” A more literal rendering of this verse says: “The effective prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much” (LEB).
Don’t Underestimate God’s Providence: The more we understand James 5:16, the more we see how God answers prayers beneficially. He does not always work by miracle; He works through providence. The apostle Paul, for example, requested prayer to go straight from Jerusalem to Rome (Romans 15:31-32).
Romans 15:31-32 (NKJV) 31 that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you.
The Lord did get him to Rome, but it was through an indirect and divine route that involved his arrest in Jerusalem, two years of imprisonment in Caesarea, and an ill-fated voyage (Acts 27-28).
Don’t be surprised when you pray one way and the Lord answers in another. In retrospect, you will find the Lord’s way best, though at the time it leaves you perplexed.
The Central Coast Rescue Mission of Santa Maria, California, ran a story by a man named Adrian who came to the end of himself. He was squatting in a house where the lights, water, and gas were shut off. He knew little about God, but one day in desperation he begged God to help him get off drugs, get out of that house, and get out of his situation.
He didn’t expect God to answer his prayers by sending the police to arrest him, but that’s just what happened. On April 1, 2014, he ended up in jail. But in jail he found a copy of the Bible and read it every day. “I found that God would comfort me in that dark time and place,” Adrian said. “I served three months in jail and now realize that was God’s way of getting me sober.” Afterward, the mission helped him to obtain the guidance and counseling he needed and to restore his relationship with his family. 2
God makes no mistakes when He answers our prayers, and His providence never fails to take the best routes and arrive at the best destination.
Don’t Underestimate God’s Plans: The reason God’s providence proves a blessing is because He has an main plan for this world and, in particular, for each of us. How He merges His plans, our prayers, and His ultimate purposes for us—all of that is in the realm of marvelous mystery.
But it is not to be underestimated.
I want to encourage you to work toward a more authentic life of prayer. Learning to pray is a lifetime pursuit. Don’t be discouraged. Try finding a chair at home, a table in your room, a moment in your day to develop this dialogue with the Lord. Like the disciples, ask Him to teach you to pray. He will move heaven and earth on your behalf, and as time goes by, you’ll learn to understand His answers.
God makes no mistakes when He answers our prayers.
Jerry Sittser wrote, “In the end we receive answers, for Jesus himself promised it would be so. He commanded us to pray, ‘Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Would he make such a promise, only to refuse to deliver on it? But along the way there are significant setbacks. The ending is triumphant, though it might not always seem certain. The kingdom comes, God’s will is done, though not right away.
God does and will answer our prayers, though it may take a while, sometimes a long while.” 3
Prayer changes things, but there’s something even greater. Prayer changes us! It is the window that funnels the atmosphere of heaven into our hearts as we await His glorious coming.
Honest Prayer
Understanding the Position of Prayer
We hear the phrase most often in a comedic context—a movie or television show. A character has a problem and needs a solution of some sort and doesn’t know where to turn. When discussing his problem with a friend, he is surprised to hear the friend say, “Don’t worry; I know a guy.” And in many cases, the character with the problem doesn’t ask “Who?” or “How?”—as if he knows better than to ask. And if he does start to ask, the friend nips the question in the bud as if to say, “You don’t want to know.”
Depending on the storyline, what happens next can take any number of turns—usually funny and good natured. So familiar has the phrase “I know a guy” become that we hear it used in everyday conversation. All it takes to generate laughter among friends is for someone to say, “No problem; I know a guy.”
And instead of being hopeful that all things will work together for good, we believe our way is the only way.
But sometimes the situation is serious and sinister, and the bumbling “guy” is replaced by what is called a “fixer”—someone who is not afraid to use unconventional, even illegal, means to solve problems or change outcomes. Fixers don’t always use despicable tactics, but in modern terms that is usually their reputation. Fixers “fix” things: sports games, political outcomes, legal problems, debts, business conflicts, and more. In British contexts, a fixer is simply a business consultant who helps arrange deals or outcomes using conventional means. In America, the role of a fixer has a much stronger “don’t ask, don’t tell” meaning.
When it comes to our lives—and how we pray—I sometimes wonder if we approach God as “the guy” or, even worse, “the fixer.” That is, we have a problem or a situation in which we are focused on an outcome that we are unable to produce by our own wit or wisdom. So, we turn to God and tell Him what we would like Him to do for us.
In the heat of the moment, we lose perspective on who we are and who He is.
He is God; we are not.
Yet sometimes we switch places with Him and expect Him to do whatever we ask.
Instead of being honest, we present only our perspective.
Instead of being humble, we resort to insistence.
Instead of being happy with whatever the outcome is, we tie our happiness to getting our way.
And instead of being hopeful that all things will work together for good, we believe our way is the only way.
We don’t care how God does it, we just want Him to answer our prayer.
Obviously, there is a lot wrong with that approach to bringing our requests to God. But Scripture shows us how to come to God in prayer.
The Position of Prayer
When we talk about a model prayer, we often cite the prayer Jesus taught His disciples: the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).
Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV)
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
But not only did Jesus present a model prayer, He also positioned Himself as the Model Prayer—a model of how to come before God in prayer.
If there was ever a time when someone might be tempted to insist on his or her will being done, it would be when facing torture and death. And if there was ever a time for honesty in prayer, that would be it—coming before God with complete transparency and trust. And that is what we find Jesus doing as He faced what He knew was coming:
His death as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
When Jesus came to earth as a Man, He set aside His divine privileges and rights.
After spending time with His disciples for the Passover meal, Jesus led them out of Jerusalem and into the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39-46).
Luke 22:39-46 (NKJV)
39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. 46 Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”
He knew He was the Passover Lamb; He knew He was about to be slain.
Doctor Luke was perhaps best qualified to describe the anguish Jesus was experiencing as He contemplated what was coming.
His agony was so great that “His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (verse 44)—so great that “an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him” (verse 43).
What an iconic moment for someone to appear to Jesus and say, “Don’t worry; I know a guy.
Don’t worry, I can fix this.”
But wait—Jesus didn’t need a fixer to solve His problem.
He was the fixer!
Didn’t Jesus tell Peter, just a short time later, that He could call on God the Father to send 12 legions of angels (72,000 angels) to free Him from what was to come (Matthew 26:53)?
Matthew 26:52-53 (NKJV) 52 But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?
Jesus could have “fixed” His own situation had He chosen to do so!
So why didn’t He? Some things that we don’t see are more important…
Matthew 26:54 (NKJV) How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?”
God’s will had been revealed through the Old Testament prophets that the Servant of the Lord would be “led as a lamb to the slaughter,” that the Lord would lay “on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6-7).
When Jesus came to earth as a Man, He set aside His divine privileges and rights (not His divine nature) and took on the very nature of a servant.
“He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8).
In short, Jesus submitted His will to the will of God the Father.
And by what means did He do that?
By the means of prayer. In the Garden, in the midst of unimaginable agony, He prayed,
“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done. That is the prayer of the Model Pray-er and all who would seek to pray like Him. That’s the hard way to pray but the most effective.
