DOES PRAYER REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

The Prophet Elijah is a strong example in the Bible of how prayer can change situations. In 1 Kings we see Israel has been plagued by a famine for 3 and a half years. God chooses to speak to Elijah and promises that He will send rain:

“And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, ‘Go show thyself to Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth.’” (1 Kings 18:1)

PRAYER FOR THE PROMISE
Elijah then prays earnestly, on his knees, sending his servant seven times to check if there was any rain. He does this despite God already promising to send rain, partnering with God through prayer to see the fulfilment of God’s promise come to pass. After the seventh time, the servant spots a cloud and the rain is on its way – just like Elijah, our prayers have the power to change the world!

GOD INHABITS ETERNITY
This is how a man puts it in his writings and I, quote, “It’s mind-blowing to think that the closest star from the earth, besides the sun, is 25 trillion miles away, or 4 light years away. However, we now know that there are stars that are at least 80,000 light years away, and there could be around 400 billion of these stars! Scientists have observed that there are hundreds of billion galaxies that are able to be observed in the universe… and this can make it seem like the earth is tiny and we are insignificant within all these things.” But we can know that our prayers are significant and powerful. Isaiah 57:15 says that God inhabits eternity, so God is present with us even though He created the vast universe and everything in it!

GOD CARES ABOUT US
God cares about our problems and has the power to answer our prayers. More than this, we are created for God’s pleasure! Revelation 4:11 says, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”

GOD IS GLORIFIED THROUGH ANSWERED PRAYER
Our prayers give the opportunity to glorify God. God can choose to show himself to us and to others through His power moving as we pray. In John 9, the Disciples ask Jesus why a man was born blind, wondering whether the man’s sin or family sin is what has caused it, but Jesus replies “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents, but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

James 5:16 tells us that, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” As Christians, we can pray to know that our prayers will make a difference.