I love to pray. It's an innerconnection with God that stokes a relationship with God that I love.
There are different kinds of prayer. One of them is "intercessory prayer," or praying for the needs of others.
Listen to this:
"Intercessory prayer is widely believed to influence recovery from illness, but claims of benefits are not supported by well-controlled clinical trials,” states the American Heart Journal.
So, fueled by a 2.4 million dollar research grant, a 14 day study was designed to see if prayer works. 3 congregations – 2 Catholic and 1 Unity – received first names and last initials of a few hundred heart patients and were told to pray for their recovery. There was also a control group for whom, presumably, no one prayed.
The results of the study: “Intercessory prayer itself had no effect on complication-free recovery from CABG, but certainty of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with a higher incidence of complications.”
What a waste of 2.4 million dollars. The power of prayer is not something that can be scientifically measured, it can’t be tied to a 2 week timetable, and It really annoys me that people who are smart enough to have access to two million dollars aren’t smart enough to figure this out.
Rick Warren says that he has been praying for the same thing every day for the past twenty something years. If it’s 30 millions books in print, I’ve got good news for him: he’s almost there. I think, however, his unspoken request is something more personal and more serious. He tells about this long term petition to make a point: You keep praying until you get an answer. Sometimes we see results in a few days. Sometimes it may take a lifetime. If it’s worth praying for, it’s worth your persistence.
Luke wrote, “Then he spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1) I’ll write specifically about the parable someday, but Luke’s summary is important enough for now.
Jesus says keep praying, “and not give up,” as the NIV says. Even after 14 days, or 14 years, or whatever type of time limit we’ve tried to oppose on God’s ability to answer, we need to keep praying.
Whatever your long-term request is: Don’t lose heart. God has promised to hear."
Good stuff.
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1 comment:
That's absolutely right, George! God does hear our prayers and He does answer them. Not always on our time table but always on His. If He passed out candy to everyone whenever they asked, we'd all have cavities. Not that our needs are candy but that's the analogy that I choose to use. If God answered our prayers immediately, every time and every prayer, we would not appreciate it very long. We are already a society of "what have you done for me lately?" If God answered our prayers immediately, think how much worse we would be...how much "now" driven we would be...how we would never understand delayed gratification or working toward a goal or striving forward. That's not what God wants for us and it should not be what we want for ourselves. I want God to provide me what I need...when I need it! I'm like everybody else...there's plenty of stuff that I'd like to have. But it's just stuff!! I can't take it with me and it really can't make me happy. God being in my life, holding me in the hard times and laughing with me in the good times, is worth more than any prayer He can answer. This is a lesson that I've really had to concentrate on in the last two weeks. I didn't get the job I prayed for and my wife has some significant (scary) health issues at the moment. But I trust God that He will make all things right in my life.
On a positive note, my nephews were in a car accident a couple of weeks ago. The doctors told their mother to go with the younger (whose life was in the balance) as the older wouldn't be alive when she got to the hospital. She started praying, she got the whole prayer team involved, and both boys are out of the woods. They'll have serious rehabilitation issues but, God kept them both alive (along with another girl in the car) and with us. Does God answer prayer? I've still got my two nephews as evidence that He does. Can I prove that it was God? I don't need to prove that...I KNOW IT!
Just as I don't need to prove that God created everything (scientists are doing a real good job at that--see Lee Strobel's book on "The Case for the Creator" if you don't believe that), I don't need to prove that God can do anything. He promises that to me and I trust in Him. That trust is more than a word and it's deeper than any trust I can have with a friend. God will never betray me or desert me or deny me. Friends can and have in the past and will again in the future. Humans are fallible, we fall, we make mistakes, we betray the trust of others either intentionally or otherwise. We betray the trust that God has in us almost every day...okay, every day. But He is a great and gracious God, He forgives us. And we should be forgiving those in our lives who need it as well. Take a load off your mind, forgiveness helps only you. Release your bitterness with the past and move forward into the future that God has prepared for you. Pray daily that God will provide all you need for that day. Day by day, that's all we need and should ask for...as hard as that is for us.
Love God. He already loves you more than you can ever know. Pray daily, read the Word daily, meet with other Christians daily, provide some service daily...in all you do, do it for the glory of God.
May God bless and keep you through all your days.
Jon
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