The Power of a Simple Prayer

Certainly, prayer is such as huge subject and only look to cover a few points on this blog.  I want to begin by saying that anyone can pray, you don't need to understand everything about the Christian faith or be religious.  Prayer is open to everyone, despite our differences.  I love to see the Anglican churches opening their doors, so people can light a candle that represents their personal prayer. It's a powerful way of getting our thoughts together, ponder on life and on others.

What if this kind on pondering was available daily to us?  It's fascinating to note that science has now proven that meditation is good for us; to actually stop for about 20 minutes of the day and just allow our thoughts to form.  It can help clear our heads and keep us focused.  It's interesting then when we realise that prayer is the very act of meditation, thinking on our life, our worries, our concerns, our family, our friends and saying prayers for them which can be done anytime, anywhere, we don't have to wait until we are in church! There is nothing we are going to lose from prayer as many people can be touched by it as I will explain further. 

So why would there be any power in a simple prayer?  I want to discuss for a few moments about the character of God himself. God does not exist within space and time.  Time is not something He is bound to.  Humans can only know for sure the past and present and we do not know the future.  Can you imagine a person who knows the future; someone who has already seen it, wow that would be amazing, a person that could access all time zones of our lives! Well we know from the bible that it says that God is omniscient, meaning He knows everything that can be known in time and outside of time!  This is getting heavy I know, as well as that we know that God is omnipresent, meaning He can be everywhere all at the same time, as well as omnipotent meaning he has all power.  If all these things are true about God then surely when we pray he has already seen our prayer in the future, and therefore could have already answered our prayer before we ever pray it, he could have already set events in motion to answer our prayer. It means, as we pray for our friend or family member, He can be with that person we are praying for.  It means that He can access any moment of time and as we ask Him, can alter the course of history!  As God operates outside of time, we can be sure that our prayers do too. As our prayers are not affected by time, then prayers could be answered straight away or some prayers may even out-live us, being answered when we have already left our earthly life.  Wow!!

This is why prayer is powerful; I hope you can understand what I am saying. I don't know if any of you have seen the film 'Interstellar', there is a poignant moment at the end where the main character gets sucked into the centre of a black hole; a place where time does not exist as we know it, it was a kind of 4th dimension.  He could suddenly see His daughter's life moment by moment and could access those moments, it reminded me so profoundly of the characteristics of the Christian God.  If anyone knows anything about quantum physics we know that it talks about energy and that energy can move anywhere and be in several places at the same time.  We suddenly get a glimpse of this God we are talking about; it's not as fairy tale as one may think when we start looking at the science.  Someone living in a 4th dimension would know so much more than we could ever know; a God-like being.  I'm not suggesting God is living in the 4th dimension, but trying to make the point that He is so much bigger than we could ever imagine with the understanding of our human minds and when we pray He is already there! Psalm 18 v 6 says, "In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. He heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears" and Psalm 34, 15 - "The LORD looks on the righteous, and he listens to their cries". Also if you believe that God created us to love and be loved, then surely it is important that we care and pray for each other which thankfully is still a big function of the modern church today. 

There are a few limitations on prayer however.  Firstly it says in the bible that prayers should be said in faith, believing that God is able to do what you have asked. Prayer is also linked with the will of God.  Even when Jesus was going to be murdered on the cross He prayed to His Father, 'I would rather this cup be taken away from me, but even so not my will but yours'. This is even in the Lord's prayer so it must be a very important aspect of prayer.  Finally, I believe prayer should be sincere and not just a list of wants for wants sake. God sees the heart of the prayer and whether the prayer is honest, genuine and coming from a good place. 

A small prayer therefore, is not a meager one but powerful, when we realise who we are praying to.  Let us not become weary of praying, but get excited again that prayer can really change things.  

Bible verses on prayer (although the word pray is mentioned over 300 times in the bible)

Luke 11 v9-13 - And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Phil 4 v 6 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Matt 21 v 22 - And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.

Matt 18 v 20 - For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."

(Some of the scientific ideas in this blog have been researched & discussed by by Dr Robi, http://www.drrobi.com and Dr Caroline Leaf http://drleaf.com/)

Dealing with the tides of love & suffering

Recently there has been a ever deepening sense of tragedy and sadness of what is happening in our world, as well as hearing about many friends who are struggling and those who have suffered illness or have continued sickness.  I also recently lost both my Nana's - it's so hard to say goodbye to those we love and hold so dear.  

What can we do with our grief? Do we stop looking at the news, do we hide ourselves away and rather not face the realities of suffering? Do we carry on with work and get busy to make sure we don't have time to think about it? When we see others suffering do we go out of our way to ask them if they're coping or do we walk away not knowing what to say?

One positive we can look at, is that through grief we realise how much love means to us.  We start to get a real understanding about the people in our lives and the love we hold for them.  Because of hurt and suffering, we can understand what love means in a far deeper way.  We suddenly become much more aware that love and happiness in our lives is more important than we once understood, realising that at times we've taken it for granted. Oswald Chambers once wrote, "Sorrow burns up a great amount of shallowness". Suffering produces bigger character and strength, it stretches us and makes us more aware when others are struggling.  Suffering also prepares us to minister to others who may be going through sorrow; we are able to reach out to friends who may be going through the same thing we have experienced and it gives us greater empathy towards other people's difficulties. 

Ultimately, in the end some good can come out of our grief.  When we run into problems and trials, in some ways we can know that they teach us endurance. Endurance develops strength, until finally in its good time, our hope and faith is restored again. In life it is inevitable we are going to go through some difficulties and problems, we know well it's not a perfect life!  But life also come and goes in seasons, there may be a season of struggle or pain, followed by a season of happiness; this is what is meant by 'sorrow may last for a night but joy comes in the morning', so if you are going through a time of difficulty, keep holding on until you see hope again! If we are going through a long term sickness, this is not so easy....carry on holding onto those loved ones who care for you and make you smile again, giving you a reason to find hope again.  If we sense others going through a season of difficulty it's important we ask how they are doing, such a simple question can make a real difference.  

Christian faith thoughts:

I thought it good to mention that the Christian Easter story was all about love and suffering too. The bible story shows us that God loved the world so much that He wanted to restore His relationship with people.  He did this by sending Jesus, who suffered at the cross. 

God has walked in our shoes as a human; Jesus came as a man, he's seen suffering, he himself went through hardships, struggles and disappointments and even death! He had to deal with being misunderstood, being told he was a liar and was eventually killed, although a good man, because of what he stood for and claimed to be. 

There's nothing that God doesn't understand about being human and I believe this is why God chose to come this way, not as a king robed in splendor and riches but a normal man (fully God, but fully human) who gave his life to serve others in their need. Firstly, so we can relate to God himself and know the life he lived was a difficult road, but secondly so we can learn from his life and his urgency to help those in need around him.  One thing the Christian can know for sure is that God loves, and through suffering he understands and will help us through it when we ask. He will give us strength and hope for a new day.  It is written in Isaiah 41:13 - “For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you.”

Christian's believe even death is not the end.....for it says in Romans 8, "What can separate us from the love of God? Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below; indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord".

Keep holding on, keep moving forward, keep the hope of a new day as 'sadness will last for a night but joy comes in the morning'. xx