Does Prayer Really Work?

In recent years there have been studies done on the effects of intercessory
prayer for the sick.  One study says that
the people who were prayed for actually did worse than those who were not
prayed for.  

According to a study done by Harvard Medical School, “In a clear setback for those who
believe in the power of prayer, their prayers were not answered. Prayers
offered by strangers did not reduce the medical complications of major heart
surgery. Not only that, but patients who knew that others were praying for them
did worse than those who did not receive such spiritual support, or who did,
but were not aware of receiving it.” [i]

So does this settle the question, “Does prayer really
work”?  Should this prevent us from
praying?  We cannot expect God to fit
into the limitations of a scientific study.  

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of
his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach
us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1)  They could have asked Him anything.  They could have asked, “Lord, teach us how to
turn water into wine” or “Lord, teach us to raise the dead.”  Instead, they asked Him how to pray, and what
He did was teach them how to build a personal relationship with God.  Then and only then could they be ready to
learn how to pray as a group with an understanding of what a solemn assembly is
all about.

Many people do not really believe in the power of prayer.  This
is sad, because God has many blessings He would like to grant us through faith
and prayer, but we have to believe in prayer in order to have the prayers
answered.  There are preachers who teach
the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel today, but this is not scriptural.  God does not teach that all blessings in the
Bible have to do with finances and not everyone is healed. 

What is often neglected in these ministries is that the emphasis
in the context of these Scriptures is not on the kind of faith or the amount of
faith, but on abiding with Christ and asking according to the will of God.  As we pray Scripture, and as we pray
conversationally with God, we can know that He is informing and guiding and
refining our prayer requests, and so we pray according to the will of God as we
gain awareness of the presence of God.

Did you know that most promises for answered prayer in the Bible
are conditional?  Some people would like
prayer with no conditions.  They wish God
to be a celestial genie who, when summoned by prayer, must grant any request
they make.  They find a measure of
encouragement in the fable of Aladdin and his lamp, aspiring to that level of
control over God’s power in their prayer life.  But the biblical fact is that prayer has
conditions.  It’s true that Jesus said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever
you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22)  But, even in that statement, we have one
condition to prayer, faith.  

As we examine the Bible, we find that there are other conditions
to prayer, as well.  If you want answers
to your prayers, then you must meet the conditions for prayer.  Even though God answers prayer, we should
not believe that God is going to answer every prayer exactly the way we
want it answered.  I firmly believe there
are three probable answers to every prayer: yes, no, and wait.  

I like to pray God-size prayers, because we serve a big God.  It is up to Him to determine how and when to
answer our prayers.  There are many
prayers that I am still praying because I have not yet received an answer.  Several years ago our pastor at Grace Baptist
Church in Toccoa, Georgia told us how he prayed for 30 years that his father
would be born again.  It finally happened
shortly before his father past away. 

I know God listens to my prayers, because I have had many other prayers
answered.  The Bible says, “You do not have, because you do not ask
God.” (James 4:2b)  So don’t be
afraid to pray, unless the prayer is a selfish prayer.

Here are some conditions we have to meet, borrowed from R.A.
Torrey’s book “How to Pray,” [ii] in
order to receive answers to prayer:

1. All known
sin should be confessed to the Lord.

          a) “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the
Lord would not have listened…” (Psalm 66:18)

          b) “Surely
the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But
your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his
face from you, so that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2)

2. We should
not pray selfish prayers.

          a) “When you ask, you do not receive, because
you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
(James 4:3)

3. We should
not harbor unforgiveness in our hearts.

          a) “And when you stand praying, if you hold
anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive
you your sins.” (Mark 11:25)

4. Husbands
and wives should treat each other biblically.

          a) “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as
you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and
as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder
your prayers.” (1 Peter 3:7)

5. We have
to have enough faith to believe God will answer our prayers. 

         a)
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all
without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must
believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown
and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from
the Lord: he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” (James 1:5-8)

6. We must
pray according to the will of God. Perhaps He does not want to heal an
individual because it is time for them to die.

          a) “There is a time for everything, and a
season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die…”
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-2b)

          b) “Just as man is destined to die once, and
after that to face judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27)

If you knew that ours was the last generation before the coming of
Christ, how would you live?  When you
stand before the throne of God, will you know Him intimately as your friend or
will you be a stranger?  Are you going
through the routine of your Christian walk without experiencing friendship with
Him?  Through Spirit-led prayer, your
eyes will be opened, and you’ll have an indescribable, rich, and fulfilling
relationship with God.

In “Experiencing Prayer with
Jesus”, Henry Blackaby writes, “How deep is your relationship with the
Lord as you pray?  Do you pour your heart
out to Him with complete confidence and trust in His help, because you’ve come
to know and experience His love?  It
takes time, like any relationship.  The
more time you spend with Him, the more you’ll come to understand His ways, His
heart, and His will as you pray.”