Prayer Really Works

I fondly recall a time around 2 1/2 years ago where the children and I prayed for something specific every single night. We prayed right before bed as I rocked Levi (he was only 2 then) and Ayla would somehow squeeze in next to us. What a sight we must have been as this was a single rocker! 🙂

I’m not even sure how it started but I guess it was birthed from desire for change. We prayed nightly for a new home and we didn’t stop there. We included a few key details that were important to us and we decided to let God fill in the other blanks. We knew we wanted to stay in the same city; in fact, we never prayed about location. However, we did pray for the following:

1. 4 bedrooms (At the time we had 3 and wished for a little extra space for various reasons).
2. New carpet (The rental we were in had nasty, old carpet that I’m quite sure had seen many accidents from the former residents who owned a small dog).
3. A flat, level backyard with plush green grass where we could add a swing set and a fence (if it did not already have one). These are seriously the words we used over the backyard. 🙂
4. Oh, and most importantly, we prayed for it to happen within a specific time frame – 6 months. While we always prayed for 6 months, I’m not sure exactly what I envisioned that span of time to cover. Would we actually be moved into the house within 6 months? Would we just find and start the process within 6 months? But, nonetheless we prayed 6 months.

We started praying in September of 2015. If you add 6 months you come out to February 2016. Well, sometime in that Jan/Feb range we located a new construction we felt drawn to, and put a contract on the house. We were supposed to sign papers on the last day of February but the realtor got sick and it had to be pushed back until March 2nd. However, I remembered our prayer and I know it was answered. It all happened within 6 months.

The point to all this? Simply, that prayer works. Our words have power and can produce life.

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16

“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Proverbs 18:21

According to the dictionary, the word ‘effective’ means “successful in producing a desired or intended result“. So, there is hope! The Bible is clearly telling us our prayer will be successful. Not maybe, but will be! If that’s not assuring, I don’t know what is. 🙂

My friend, Dianne Reed, recently published a book that goes into greater detail on this very subject. In it, she teaches how to know the Word, believe the Word, speak the Word, and do the Word. You can check it out HERE.

I just want to encourage you that prayer works and you should not give up when results are not immediately seen in the present. I’ve come to realize that God is ALWAYS working behind the scenes. The problem for us is that we cannot always see it. But I believe He places glimmers of hope along our rocky path to show that we are not only heading in the right direction, but also to encourage us and strengthen our faith walk.

Father, help us come to a greater understanding of who You are, how you want to bless us and how You answer prayer. Let us remember that Your ways are higher than ours (Is. 55:8-9) and that Yours are always going to be for our ultimate good. Amen.

If you liked this post, you may enjoy this ONE as well. Thanks for reading!