What Have Your Prayers Done for You Lately?

What have your prayers done lately? Our prayers are supposed to do something. Mr. Herbert Armstrong said on more than one occasion that the Work of God moves forward on its knees. Without the fervent, continual and prevailing prayers of the members, the Work cannot grow.

It is an awesome and amazing thing that we can have an audience with Almighty God. I Peter 3:12 tells us, “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers….” Prayer is a personal intimate communication with our Heavenly Father. Without meaningful, continual, effective prayer we will not make it into God’s Kingdom. Real believing prayer is a tool to help us draw close to God and help the Work. What does God’s word, the Bible, say about prayer? What do we need to be praying about?

Matthew 6:5 says, “And when thou prayest,” not if. It’s something God expects us to do. He expects us to find a private place and spend time in communication with Him! As Paul explains, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (II Cor. 4:16). We need to be renewed day by day. This can only occur through daily prayer and study. I Peter 4:7 states, “Be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer.” God wants us to take it seriously. We can’t let prayer become some rote little sleepy–time mantra we mumble out before we flop into bed.

One example of how to pray is found in the first chapter of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was about to come before the king to ask if he could go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall and the gate of the temple. We see that Nehemiah repents of his sins. He shows humility in asking God to keep his promises of intervening: “O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man….” (v. 11). Did God answer this humble plea? Notice Nehemiah 2:8 “…And the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me.”

God will intervene on our behalf also, when we pray to him. David prayed evening, morning and at noon: ”As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” (Psa. 55:16-17). He knew God would hear him. Jesus Christ also set us an example in Luke 5:16 where he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed. We have many examples of answered prayer in the Bible. What are some of the vital points we need to include in our prayers?

1. Be thankful. James 1:17 tells us “every good gift and every perfect gift… cometh down from the Father of lights.” Christ included thanksgiving as part of his prayers: “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes” (Matt. 11:25). We can make a list of things we are thankful for to help us to remember to thank God for them when we pray.


2. Ask for wisdom and guidance. God‘s word shows that we should ask for wisdom daily: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5). We can ask for ourselves and also for the ministry, so they can lead us. Wisdom and might are God’s and we can ask Him for them: “Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his” (Dan. 2:20). And in verse 23, Daniel gave God all the credit for the help he received: “I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.”


3. Pray for the Work of God. Pray for more open doors and more laborers. Matthew 9:38 urges us to “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” Widows can serve by prayer night and day: “Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day” (I Tim. 5:5). We all have a part in this work. Our prayers make a difference!

Satan will try to pull us away and he will try any tool that will work
4. Pray for our fellow brethren. Even though Christ was about to be crucified, He was praying for His disciples: “For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine” (John 17:8-9). Love is outgoing concern for others. If we have this love for our fellow brethren we will be praying for them. James 5:16 shows us how much this really matters: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”


5. Pray for our enemies. In Matthew 5:44–45 Jesus admonishes us, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” While this might be very difficult to do at times, it is exercising character like Jesus Christ “who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (I Pet. 2:23).


6. Pray for help and strength to overcome and grow spiritually. Satan will try to pull us away and he will try any tool that will work: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world“ (I Pet. 5:8-9). We need help from God to resist this. We need to make sure we don’t have some sin that is hindering our prayers so God can answer them: “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (I John 3:22).


7. We need to pray for zeal. In Revelation 3:19 we see that Jesus counsels the Laodiceans to be zealous and repent. In order to remain a Philadelphian we need to have zeal. II Corinthians 9:1–2 speaks of their zeal stirring up many. If we all pray for zeal to be on fire for God’s Truth and God’s Work, think how exciting our lives and our congregations will be!

We must realize the importance of prayer in our lives and in the Work of God. This has to become a priority. We should pray first thing in the morning, then at noon and at night. Christians have to pray for the right reasons and make sure they are obeying God so their prayers will be answered. If we do these things, there will be no stopping our spiritual growth and the growth of the Work of the Great God.