What if there really was power in prayer and that when we prayed, we changed, and events and situations around us changed? What if masses of people started praying like crazy and those masses of people were becoming more loving, less selfish, and were being guided more by God? What do you think the world would be like?
When we pray “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,” we need to remember that it is often through us that God works to bring about His kingdom and His will, as He transforms us and pours His power through us into the rest of the world. If we want the world to change, then we have to be willing to be changed first, and prayer is one of the primary means through which this change is brought about.
Join me in this experiment and invite others to join. Get some people with whom you associate on a daily basis to participate with you, and then hold each other accountable and encourage each other. Share your experiences here through the comments or on the Facebook group, where other people can read them.
God reveals to us that, for whatever reason, praying together is better than praying in isolation (Matthew 18:19-20), so please join me in prayer, so that God will change us, and through us, the world, for His glory.
Hi, I just ran across this page today and I think this is a great thing. I have been doing really good in my faith, but lately, especially tonight, I’ve been backsliding big time. I use to read my bible and REALLY study and REALLY pray, but I’ve been so busy that I kind of brush it aside and tell myself I’ll do it some other time. I feel like I’m not good enough for God anymore and that I should stop wasting his time and give up. But coming across this page has given me hope. When I would witness to my friends I would always emphasize how important prayer is and how we should pray about everything, no matter how big or small. So now I feel like bit of a hypocrite. I’m not going to say I’m going to try doing this, I am going to. Thank you so much for sharing this. You have no idea how much this has touched me. God bless
Wow… I am absolutely thrilled that this has encouraged you!
There are moments when I begin to feel what you’re feeling: that you’re wasting God’s time. We have this notion that some of us are better than others, that some people are good, and others are not. But Jesus removed that distinction in Mark 10:18, responding to someone who thought that He was only a man, by saying “no one is good except God alone.”
Jesus’ point is that God’s standard is perfection – not being “good”, and we all fall short. You’re either perfect, or your not. There’s no middle road. The mind blowing news is that in spite of that, God loves us imperfect, flawed, baggage carrying broken humans (made in His image). He doesn’t love you more when you’re studying and praying more, and less when you’re not pursuing Him. “When we we still sinners, Christ died for us.” He saves us and then begins to work His slow changes on us.
I think that if we ever begin to feel that we are somehow responsible for that change, He will allow us to fall, since falling will make us realize again that it is He alone that lifts us up.
And He is lifting you up. He loves you, and He is transforming you. You will always need God’s grace, and it will always be there for you. Jesus said that the road to life is narrow and difficult, not easy. When His sheep stray, he nudges them back on the path, sometimes painfully.
Also remember that the name “Satan” means “Accuser.” Those thoughts that you should give up and turn away because God finds you to be a waste of His time don’t come from God. John 10:10 tells us that there is a thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus offers us life.
And last…I had to go through a difficult time in which God reminded me, somewhat painfully, that I don’t get credit for my transformation into Christ-likeness. I can read, study, and pray like crazy, but those things only place me in a submissive posture where God will do His transforming work in me. He gets all of the credit, not you or I, and He does His work however and whenever He pleases. Think about a single mom who is having to hold down 3 jobs in order to raise two kids on her own, and who has little time for study and focused prayer, but who loves Jesus deeply. God is still working on her, present in her day to day life, speaking, guiding, changing her.
This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t read, study, and pray like crazy – we should! But we do it not out of obligation, or to impress God, but we do it out of a response to who God is, because we are blown away by His love and grace and holiness, and we want to be close to Him and to know Him – and we are always transformed by being in His presence.
God is with you. We worship a God who is named “Emmanuel: God With Us.” He is with you, around you, guiding and leading you. Loving you like you can’t imagine.