A few years ago I was disenchanted with prayer.

I was angry and confused.

Grief stricken.

“Why do we pray if it doesn’t make a difference!” I yelled to the sky.

The answer I found after months of anguish and wrestling was very simple. We are to pray because . . .

We are told to.

It’s that profound my friends. We pray because we are told to pray. I could tell you that prayer is our opportunity to bring heaven on earth. It’s a chance to partner with God. I could tell you that prayer changes us in the process and draws us closer to the Life-Giver.

I could tell you that prayer heals people on this side of heaven and sometimes it doesn’t.

I can tell you that sometimes faith is not the key factor to the answered petition. There are situations when we can have all the faith in the world, but other factor like God’s will or the will of the person for whom we are praying alters the answer. The whole sovereignty of God and free-will thing is beyond comprehension in my brain.

And I’ve begun to notice that it seems for each healed person in the Bible–either healed by Jesus or one of the Apostles is a scripture about persevering through suffering.

But we are told to pray. 

Today’s “Bite” is one of those verses.

The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. (1 Peter 4:7)

The Greek words mean “sane and sober”. So we need to be sane (I’m not sure how we can control that) and not drunk. (I do know how we control that.) But we need to be that way so that . . .

We can pray. 

And all I can think of is that Peter wrote this simply because, whether we see the evidence of our prayers working on this side of heaven or not, our prayers have got to be making a difference somewhere. Our prayers matter.

If they didn’t, I don’t think Peter would’ve written this. Nor would’ve John written about this vision in Revelation:

And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. (Revelation 5:8)

Pray.

Be released to pray whether you see your prayers answered in our reality or not.

Pray.

Because. Your. Prayers. Matter.

 

 

Living on Purpose in prayer,

ps. If you need more prayer encouragement, type the topic in the search box below and read more! I’ve got a lot of posts on prayer. Much love!