chapter one
Prayer That Works
Prayer That Works
EVER SINCE I WAS A LITTLE
GIRL IN WAR-TORN ENGLAND, sitting
on a three-legged stool in front of my house waiting for the bombs to fall, I
have wanted my prayers to work. I remember praying, �Oh, God, please stop the
war.� He didn�t, and I remember feeling very disappointed with him. Maybe you
have prayed that God would stop the conflict raging around you or in your own
life, and he hasn�t, and you feel disappointed with him too. This book is all
about prayer that makes a difference. About prayer that works.
You may wonder what the words prayer
and work are doing in the same sentence. Surely that sounds like an
oxymoron! Do you know what an oxymoron is? It�s when you put two seemingly
contradictory words together, like jumbo shrimp, civil war�or child safe!
Prayer and work seem to be opposite concepts. Yet I have discovered that prayer
that doesn�t work, doesn�t work! It takes work to step out of time into
eternity�and work to learn the art of leaving things undone so that the greater
thing can be done.
Prayer that works isn�t merely a matter of
personality or gift, although some people have a propensity for praying or have
the gift of prayer (and this gift is something that worries the devil very
much). Prayer itself is a gracious gift of God in the sense that he made it possible
for us to walk right into his presence and talk to him as our Father.
Every child of God has that right and privilege.
But if Satan has his way, the first thing to
go in our devotional life will be our devotional life! As the little couplet
says, �The devil trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.� He
will do anything to stop us praying. Sometimes he doesn�t have to do anything
at all, however, because we assist him by doing away with our prayer life all
on our own.
When God Doesn�t Seem to
Answer
Often, one of the reasons we stop praying is that we�re
disappointed with the whole concept of prayer. When we urgently request
something from God and he doesn�t come through for us, we feel hurt and even
betrayed that our prayers have not been answered. That�s what happened to me
when I was small.
I remember that first urgent attempt to call
on the Almighty. The need arose when I became aware that someone was trying to
kill me! The Second World War was in full swing, and I had the misfortune to live
in Liverpool, a dangerous place. Ships supplying us with food from our allies
brought their precious cargo to this seaport, making it a target for the enemy.
I was very young, but I was aware that there was a God in heaven, and somewhere
deep down in my heart I knew he was perfectly capable of stopping wars and
conflicts. I decided one day that I would ask him to stop these terrible
airplanes from dropping bombs all over my life.
That night the air raids were particularly
vicious. While we were huddled in our underground shelter like little moles, I
confidently asked God to intervene. The answer came immediately: The bomb
dropped far too near for comfort, damaging the back of our house and sending us
running for shelter in the safer environs of the English Lake District. What
went wrong? I asked myself furiously, trying in my six-year-old mind to
make sense out of this nonsense. Had God not heard? Had I said my prayer with
the wrong words or in the wrong way? Then came the unwelcome thought: Perhaps
God didn�t hear me because he was too busy doing other things, like keeping the
stars in place. And last came the worst thought: Maybe he couldn�t help
me because he couldn�t help me. He wasn�t big enough or strong enough.
Well, one way or another my fervent request
had been ignored, and a huge sense of betrayal gripped me. Somewhere deep down
in my six-year-old heart I determined not to try again. Not a few adults have
faced similar dilemmas. At the first disappointment they quit without finding
out what is happening and what makes prayer work.
If this is the case, the first thing we
should do is pray about this. In fact, we should pray about anything that
hinders our prayer life. You might want to stop this moment and ask the Lord to
identify whatever has caused you to stop talking to him. Then, when you have an
inkling of what the blockage has been, talk to him about it.
Prayer Is Part of a
Relationship
Prayer, after all, is the speaking part of our relationship
with God. Our relationship with him depends upon our birth, while our
fellowship�the quality of our relationship�depends upon our behavior. We must
be born of God��born again��to be able to talk to God as his children in the
first place. After that, our fellowship will be determined by our behavior. Stuart
and I have two sons and a daughter. Our blood runs in their veins. Our
relationship with them depends upon their birth. If they mess up, our
fellowship may be disrupted, but they will always be our children�our estranged
children perhaps, but still our children.
Make sure you have been born again. Read the
third chapter of John�s Gospel and think about it. Pretend you are Nicodemus.
What did Nicodemus need to do after talking with Jesus? What do you need to do
after talking with him? Be born again. I�ve provided a simple outline in the
form of an acrostic.
Be still inside. Find a quiet place where you
won�t be interrupted. Nicodemus came to Jesus �by night� (John 3:2, NKJV). This might have been because he
didn�t want anyone to see him, but the fact that he came by night also meant
that he and Jesus would be alone so they could talk.
Open your mind to thoughts from God. The psalmist
prayed �Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law�
(Ps. 119:18, NIV). Pray,
�Lord, Nicodemus came to ask you questions. He had an open mind. Help me to
understand what you want from me.�
Recognize
that God is good�and you are not. Nicodemus was a good man, a clever man, a
great teacher of truth. But the best man in the world isn�t as good as God
wants him to be (see John 3:9-10).
No one is good enough to go to heaven or too bad
to be forgiven. Everyone needs to be born again or born from above (see John
3:3-8).
Admit your
shortcomings, for �all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God� (Rom.
3:23, NIV). Ask God now to open
the eyes of your heart. Ask him to enlighten your mind to understand the good
news of the gospel (Eph. 1:18-22; Rom. 3:24). The good news is
� God
is good and you are not.
� God
loves you and gave Christ to die as your substitute.
� If you believe that
Christ died in your place and that God punished him instead of you, you will
have eternal life (John 3:16).
Give God your life. Pray, �Here is my life,
Lord�all of it. I give you my past�forgive it. I give you my future�secure it.
I give you my present�fulfill it.�
Accept God�s life, eternal life. Pray, �Please
come into my life, Lord Jesus, by your Holy Spirit, right now.�
Invite him to �fuel and rule� your life from now
on. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. If he is not Lord of all, he is not
Lord at all.
Nourish your new relationship with God. Pray to
God and read and apply the Bible every day. �Pray continually, give thanks in
all circumstances, for this is God�s will for you in Christ Jesus�
(1 Thess. 5:17-18, NIV).
�Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up
in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good� (1 Pet.
2:2-3, NIV).
Once you have established
your relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you are ready to work on
developing your relationship with him. This is where your devotional life
really begins�and prayer is such a large part of that.
Master the Art of Leaving
Things Undone
The first thing you need to learn as you begin to pray prayers
that work is to master the art of leaving things undone. Many of us suffer from
�Martha syndrome.� Martha was a woman who loved Jesus very much, but her �much
serving� distracted her from focusing on him (Luke 10:40, NKJV). It�s hard to leave the urgent
thing to attend to one�s soul, but the Lord calls us to just such a duty. You
have to learn to do it in the middle of the muddle! Martha had good reasons not
to sit at Jesus� feet, but those reasons were not enough for the Lord. He said
to her, �Martha, Martha, . . . you are worried and upset about many
things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it
will not be taken away from her� (Luke 10:41-42, NIV). Many of us can get so excited about the work of the
Lord that we forget the Lord of the work, as someone has so aptly said.
Not only do we have to learn the art of
leaving things undone, we need to practice the discipline of leaving things
uneaten! If we are to work at prayer that works, it may cost us a little belt
tightening. Jesus apparently expected us to follow his example in this regard
because he said, �when you fast,� not �if you fast� (Matt. 6:16). If we are to
learn how to step out of time into eternity, there will in all probability be
many a breakfast or lunch that will need to go uneaten.
What is more, we may have to leave some
hours unslept! Jesus got up a great while before daybreak to meet with his
Father (Mark 1:35). It will do us no harm at all to set the alarm clock fifteen
minutes earlier each day in order that the most important things are attended to. Sleep
deprivation is, after all, better than God deprivation!
Simply Get Started
But where do we start when we meet with God? One of the reasons
some people avoid personal devotions is a fear of incompetence. Whatever
shall we say when we enter his throne room? they wonder. Maybe we�ve always
had a problem talking to important people. How do you address the King of kings
and Lord of lords? The first thing to do is find a place and time for such an
important conversation. Prayer must be planned. There is a sense in which
prayer can be engaged in all day long. But time must also be put aside in order
to visit with the King, and so plans should be made.
May I suggest that you take your calendar at
the start of the week and pencil in time with the Lord every day. To see that
appointment there in black and white sometimes helps you to keep it.
Finding a place can be more of a challenge.
When I had young children, it was almost impossible to find a quiet spot. In
desperation one day, I took the kids out of their playpen and climbed inside!
This became a lifesaver for me, and in the busy days after I�d discovered this
safe haven, the children learned to leave me alone. They decided that Mommy was
a whole lot nicer Mommy when she got out than when she got in!
Learn to Be Still
But I still haven�t addressed the problem of what to do when
you actually get everything in order and are ready to pray. For instance, what
do you do about wandering thoughts?
Let me give you an illustration. We have a
cute grandchild, Stephen, who learned at an early age to avoid his mother�s
eyes when she wanted to talk to him. This necessitated his mom catching up with
him and capturing him in her arms. She then turned him around and, taking his
little face in a firm grip, got down on his level. Then she said gently, �Look
at me, Stephen!� Stephen�s eyes rolled to the left, then to the right, then
right up to the top of his head until only the whites could be seen! Judy kept
at it, holding his little face until, slightly dizzy with all that eye
rolling, Stephen finally focused his eyes on his mother�s face, and she could
tell him what she wanted him to hear. The first thing she said was, �I love
you, Stephen.� Then she told him what she needed to tell him.
When you begin to pray, imagine that you are
Stephen! Think about God, your heavenly Father, taking your face lovingly in his
hands and holding you firmly right there in front of him. Imagine him saying to
you, �Look at me, Stephen.� Stay still until you focus. In other words, be
still and know that he is God (Ps. 46:10). When your thoughts are settled on
the Lord, you will be ready to pray. It is a good idea to start every time in
God�s presence with a period of silent prayer.
Try to form a habit of meeting with God
without an agenda. So many of us have to teach or care for others that it is
hard to come to God without thinking about them. Oh, we think, this Scripture
would be excellent for Mrs. Smith. But God has things to say to us as well as
to Mrs. Smith. We need to listen to God�s voice without thinking of others and
what would be good for them. First, God wants to tell us what is good for us.
Listening to God is an important part of prayer. Try settling down to spend
time quietly. Before you even begin to get down to the work of prayer, see if
you can hear a thought, enjoy the stillness, or receive a new idea God wants you
to think about.
In Eugene Peterson�s paraphrase of the
Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, he gives a contemporary rendering of Jesus� words
on the subject:
In prayer, you have passive
parts and active parts. Yet even the passive parts take work for some of us! It
takes a huge effort to stop and be still, especially if we are active by
nature. In the book of Hebrews, for example, the Lord says, �Make every effort
to enter that rest� (Heb. 4:11, NIV).
Here Paul puts two words together that do not appear to belong together at all,
effort and rest. That sounds like another oxymoron. I am a very
active person. It takes a big effort on my part to be quiet and still, but I
must work at resting if I am to have any power in my prayer life. It is only
after quieting our spirit that we will know what to pray and how to pray.
Look at Those Who Pray Well
There are many ways of learning about prayer. One way is to
look at the lives of people who seem to have gotten a handle on it. Who prays
prayers that work?
It is said that James, the brother of our
Lord Jesus Christ, had a nickname that was given to him by the early church. He
was called �camel knees�! The obvious inference is that James�s knees resembled
those of a camel because he was always kneeling! Hearing this caused me to
wonder what my nickname might be!
We�re going to take a close look at a
prophet named Elijah. James pointed out that �Elijah was a man just like us. He
prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for
three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the
earth produced its crops� (James 5:17-18, NIV).
Now there is a prayer that worked!
What sort of person do you need to be in
order to be effective in your prayer life?
First, You Need to Have Been
Forgiven by God
Notice that it is the righteous man who has power with God.
�The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective� (James 5:16, NIV). Another way of looking at that
word righteous is to realize that it means, among other things, that a
person has been forgiven. Are you forgiven?
Years ago I invited a good friend to a
meeting. She was not a believer, and she listened carefully to a clear
explanation of the gospel. Realizing she was a sinner needing salvation, I
introduced her to the speaker at the end of the service. He shook her hand and
then said to her, �Tonight you will either sleep as a forgiven sinner or an
unforgiven sinner!� She was startled but thought about it and decided to sleep
forgiven. Praying a simple prayer of repentance, she asked the Lord Jesus to
enter her life, which he graciously did. Now she was ready to pray prayers that
were effective.
Second, You Have to Learn to
Be Passionate in Your Praying
Elijah �prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not
rain� (James 5:17, NIV). Elijah�s
heart was in his work. Many times we kneel to pray and we really don�t care if
God hears and answers us or not. Fervency is a condition of the heart that is
developed through our growing relationship with God. As we grow to love him, we
find ourselves caring about the things he cares about. Prayer turns our
thoughts away from our selfish concerns because we are putting ourselves into
the presence of a selfless Being�and a little of that rubs off.
Third, You Need to Be a
Persistent Pray-er if You Are to See Your Prayers Work
Elijah prayed continually about the work of God. He climbed a
mountain and got to work. He set himself to watch and pray until the rain came
(1 Kings 18:42-46). Most of us give up far too soon when we are praying.
We hit an obstacle such as unanswered prayer and stop dead in our tracks. When
Elijah set himself to pray on the top of Mount Carmel, you get the impression
that he settled down until the answer came. God likes us to be persistent. Jesus
told a story about a woman who persistently asked a judge to grant her request
(Luke 18:1-8). And Jesus commended the persistent, blind beggar (Luke
18:35-43). He wants us to go on asking until it�s the right time to get an
answer.
I think that prayer is a bit like jogging.
Years ago I took up running. Everyone in my family was into the sport in a big
way, and I didn�t want to be left out. They talked enthusiastically about
�going through the wall.� I wondered what they meant. They explained
that if you persisted when you felt you just had to give up, then
you went through an invisible wall and got a second wind. It only happened
to me once, but I do recall the sense of exultation and the sudden belief that
I could run on forever.
I think there is a wall as we engage in
prayer as well. It�s my belief that when many Christians practice prayer, they live on this side of the
wall. They get to what I call the point of push, and they stop instead of
pressing on. Next time this happens to you, press on; be persistent and you
will find yourself in a new country, a land of joy and freedom, with new hope
and expectations. Persistence takes your prayer life into a whole new orbit.
�Are any among you suffering? They should keep on praying about it,� James
tells us (James 5:13).
Pray When Trouble Troubles
You
There should be no excuse for any of us. It�s not as if we have
nothing to pray about! God has allowed enough trouble in all of our lives to
keep us on our knees. And yet for some this could be the sticking point. It�s
hard to pray when trouble troubles us. Yet James sets his remarks about prayer
in the context of trouble. �Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray,� he
says (James 5:13, NIV). We
should, but do we? It has been my experience that my prayer life seizes up
as soon as trouble pokes its ugly head into my life. But in the end I
look back and recognize that without the trouble there would have been
very little praying at all. If we are desperate enough, trouble forces us to
spend time with God.
When we first came to live in America, our
children were thrilled with the music programs in the public schools. All of
them wanted to play an instrument. �I want to play the drums,� seven-year-old
Pete announced! I was aghast and hastily signed him up for clarinet! This was a
serious mistake. The net result of all this was that he never practiced because
he didn�t want to play the clarinet; he wanted to play the drums. One day he
came whistling into the room carrying his clarinet. �Pray for me, Mom,� he
said. �It�s tryouts at school for band, and I want first chair clarinet!�
�I can�t pray that for you, Pete. You
haven�t practiced in months.�
�If I�d practiced, I wouldn�t need you to
pray,� he retorted! Many of us are like Pete. We never practice prayer, but
when urgent business arises, we expect to know exactly what to say and how to
say it. Trouble gives us the grand opportunity to practice for the concert.
What sort of trouble was James talking
about? All sorts. Little troubles and big ones. He mentions relational
troubles: �Confess your sins to each other� (James 5:16); and he deals with sin
troubles: �Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from
death and cover over a multitude of sins� (v. 20, NIV). Is any among you hurting? Has your spouse left you? Has
someone mistreated you at work? Have you been passed over or gotten the bad
part of a deal? Is there someone out there friendless, loveless, childless,
cashless, jobless, powerless, clueless? �Is anyone in trouble? He should pray!�
Trouble is a great growth hormone. It takes
us from being spiritual dwarfs to spiritual giants�if we respond rightly to it,
that is. A few years ago, our family moved into crisis mode. I listened to
myself praying. I was shocked. I heard myself praying like an unbeliever. I was
praying panic prayers, indulging in angry tirades, and using bargaining
language. �Where is my prayer life just when I need it the most?� I asked God.
Hard on the heels of that thought came the realization that this trouble was
going to do wonders for my prayer life! And it has. Trouble can, in fact,
jump-start our prayer life. If we respond to divinely permitted trouble instead
of reacting against it, we will find that the situation does two things for us.
It will show us that our devotional life isn�t working, and it will show us how
to work on making it work!
God is such a God of grace. Sometimes he
must feel very like the father whose son was in college and who only got in
touch when he wanted money! Does the Lord hear from you and me only when we
want something? The amazing thing about the Lord is his patient love. He will
hear us out whenever we get around to approaching him.
So when trouble comes, don�t resist it as if
it is an enemy; rather, welcome it as a friend. Let it drive you to your knees.
Think about it. If trials persist, it just may be that you will persist in
prayer. One day I may write a book about the prayers God didn�t answer at once.
Looking back, I can see how constant pressure kept me in the Lord�s presence,
and for that I am grateful.
Learn to Pray in the Dark
Let�s talk about sickness for a moment. James presumes that
when we are sick we would want to pray. However, he was probably very aware
that it can be difficult to find the energy or the will to turn to God when you
are unwell. That�s where the church can help. There are some things we should
keep in mind when we pray for healing. For one thing, God can heal. He is the
source of all health and well-being. The elders of the church can support the
weak person by praying for him or her, especially when the sick one is too sick
to pray. God can heal, there is no doubt about it. But God may or may not heal.
Think of Paul. The apostle had the gift of healing, yet he himself had a �thorn
in the flesh,� some handicap that God did not see fit to heal even though Paul
asked him to. When you can come to the point of saying that this thorn God has
allowed to irritate you�this thorn that has not been removed�is a good thorn,
then you will find that in acceptance lies peace. At that point, pain can
become the seedbed of prayers that work.
But God is sovereign, and that is the most
important thing. It is also the most sure thing. When God seems to be taking
his time to decide if he will answer our prayers or not, we should get on our
knees and affirm what we know to be true: God is sovereign, and he truly has
everything under control, despite all seeming evidence to the contrary. It is
hard to believe this if nothing is happening in answer to prayer. Yet as
commentator Matthew Henry says, �God is sometimes a God who hides himself but
never a God who absents himself, sometimes in the dark but never at a
distance.� So you and I need to learn to pray in the dark. Praying in the dark
is soul-building work.
It�s difficult to think of God�s glory in
the dark. But we must learn to think in this way. God�s glory is what real
prayer is all about, after all. We want him to get the glory for everything in
our world, and when he doesn�t answer our prayers at once, we are concerned
that his reputation will suffer. But God is so clever! He is working on so many
fronts all at once. God, unlike us, is other-conscious; he looks around the
situation we find ourselves in and sees all the players in the drama. He is
considering what effect answering our prayer will have on those who are
watching. Take Lazarus, for instance.
Lazarus was sick. He was so sick that his
sisters sent for Jesus, who was in a nearby town, to come quickly before their
brother died. Jesus, hearing that his friend whom he loved needed him, stayed
exactly where he was until he was sure Lazarus was very dead indeed! He told
his puzzled disciples that the reason he did this was for the glory of God
(John 11:4). Here is a good example of unanswered prayer that would eventually
result in the glory of God.
After Jesus finally turned up and raised
Lazarus from the dead, he explained that he was doing all this for the sake of
the watchers (John 11:42). The watchers were those who would be convinced of
Jesus� divinity because of the miracle he would do for Lazarus.
You see, God is working on
many fronts.
Let me illustrate this. When I was a
student, I ended up in the hospital. The girl who shared my room was a
Christian. One day her pastor came to see her. He prayed that God would heal
her. At that time, I was not a Christian, and I was fascinated by what was
going on in the bed next to mine. However, God did not see fit to answer
that particular prayer that particular day and for good reason. Shortly
afterward this girl�who didn�t get healed right away�led me to Christ! I was
one of the watchers, you see. It really helps to think about this when God
appears to be silent. In my case, that girl went through hell so that I could
go to heaven. God is superconscious of all the players on the stage of life.
Never be afraid to ask God for the stars,
but when God says no or wait, be willing to say, �thy will be done,� and ask
the Lord for strength to live well in difficult circumstances. As we try to
discover the secrets of prayer that works, it is my prayer that we will find
our prayer life revolutionized.
A Prayer about Lostness
Oh God of
love,
who would not that �any� should perish,
but that all would come to Christ and be forgiven:
Hear us now in this quiet moment.
Convince us that your word is true
and that choices are for now,
that there is a heaven where you live
and a hell where you do not.
Jesus said so.
Thank you,
Savior,
that we can have you in our hearts
and lives forever.
We pray for
our missionaries, pastors, and teachers,
that they would be bold to tell the bad news�
the reality of our lostness�
and then the good news that we can be found,
saved from our sins,
our emptiness, and our wishful wishes.
We pray,
too, for our children,
that they believe while young,
grow quickly into Christian maturity,
and serve you till they see you face-to-face!
In Christ�s name,
Amen.
Discussion or Journal
These sections
can be used by individuals, families, or study groups. If you use this book in
a group, then designate a guide leader and follow the outline. If you use the
application pages for yourself, then buy a notebook to record your prayers,
answers, and discoveries, or use the �notes and ideas� page at the end of each
chapter.
1. Can you remember a prayer you prayed that
didn�t work? What was your reaction?
2. Which of the following phrases caught your attention and
why?
� Prayer that doesn�t work doesn�t work
� The
art of leaving things undone
� Learn
to pray in the middle of the muddle
� Sleep
deprivation is better than God deprivation
� Look
at me, Stephen
� Meet
with God without an agenda
� Going
through the wall
� We must learn to pray in the dark
3. Review James 5:13-20. Using the passage, make a list of all
the things James says about prayer.
4. Why is it hard to pray when you are in trouble? Why is it
hard to praise God when things are going well?
5. Look up John 11:41 and John 12:9-10. How do these two verses
relate?
Time to Pray
1. Spend time praying about your prayer life.
2. Tell God about your disappointments in prayer.
3. Pray about the phrase from this lesson that spoke to you.
4. Praise God for the examples of prayers in the Bible.
5. Discuss how hard it is to pray when you are in trouble.
6. Sit in silence until you sense God�s grace.
To Do on Your Own
1. Read 1 Kings 18:41-45.
2. Practice praying every day.
Notes and Ideas
