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What is the Role of Prayer?What role does prayer play in the life of a Christian? This question came to my mind when we had to take one of my children to hospital last week. What had happened? He had spent a more than a week with me in our village in southeastern Madagascar. We had a fantastic time and returned home to the capital, satisfied. The next day, the hassle began. My son and I had both caught the flu. He was feeling worse than I and over the weekend his health worsened. My wife didn’t trust it and did a malaria test. Yep, he had caught the putrid kind of Malaria. We gave him medicine right away. Normally these work within two days. We saw no progress. A second dose. But still no progress. That was when we took him to the hospital. There they put him on an iv and fortunately that treatment worked. My wife stayed with him during the day and I at night. After five days, he was allowed to return home. We thank God that the hospital acted so adequately. Things sometimes go differently here in Madagascar and in that case this story might have had a very different ending.
At the time I prepare this video, all of us except my son are still sick. Coughing, sweating, snivelling—it’s one big orchestra in the Hofmann household.
You can understand that at moments like these, I feel very small and turn to the Lord in prayer. When the need arises, I suddenly reveal myself to be a real prayerwarrior. But the question arises as to what that prayer then does and what role it plays, or should play, in the life of a Christian.
I think it does more justice to the question to look at it in more depth. So let’s look together at what that role is then and what the Bible says about it.
Wish List
First just this: Our prayer is not simply submitting a list of wishes to God. No, prayer is rather a matter of entrusting ourselves to Him. We trust and express that He is doing right and that we are safe with Him.
Jesus taught us not for nothing to pray: Thy will be done. I will come back to that in a moment. Philippians 4:6-7 teaches us that we may submit all our questions and desires to God, not with the expectation that He will solve and fulfil them one by one, but with the deep knowledge that we will come to experience His peace in our hearts.
Philippians 4:6-7
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
God is Sovereign.
Another point to get out of the way is the idea that there is little point in praying because God is sovereign. In other words, because God is independent, and omnipotent God still does what He thinks is best, and our prayer does not change that.
The answer is not very difficult because He has chosen to use our prayer as a means to an end. Despite God being independent, we see this happen in the Old Testament. When the Lord went to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He allowed Abraham to ask five times to make an exception. Abraham begins by asking that the city be spared for fifty righteous people and then moves on to forty, thirty, twenty and finally ten righteous people. God agrees to Abraham’s requests, but eventually Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed because not enough righteous people can be found. Of course, the Lord knew all along what the outcome would be, and yet He allowed Abraham to plead for these cities.
God still works the same today. He uses His people to accomplish His plans. We should not think that our prayer does not accomplish anything. On the contrary! Our prayers are ordained or determined by God as the means by which He works.
God in His omnipotence not only determined how the world was to be created, He also determined how history was to unfold. In His sovereignty, He determined how we should be redeemed and how that redemption would come about. Part of that redemption is preaching. God wanted us to preach His word and that way the nations would hear of His redemption. So He uses our preaching for His purpose. Can’t He do without us then? Yes, He can! But He has determined to want to do it together. So that is the reason we as Christians have a responsibility to preach the Gospel.
So we should not sit back and think that God cannot or will not use us. No, on the contrary! It is precisely in light of His decision to work through our preaching and prayers that we should enthusiastically participate. And that is why the Bible encourages and commands us time and again to be actively involved in prayer.
Can we make God Change His Mind?
This is a question often heard. I think when we ask this question, it is usually the case that we have not given it much thought.
God is perfect, and His plans are perfect. That means what He is going to do is always perfect. Now we come to Him in prayer and say something like “Yes Lord, You want to do it this-and-that-way, but have You ever thought about the alternative I have come up with?”In other words, suddenly we have moved from servant to the role of God’s counsellor. Do we really think we can correct Him by convincing Him that His first plan would be inferior to our plan? Do we think we can give Him certain insider information that He did not already have? In other word, the God who cannot have bad, wrong or stupid ideas, is about to implement it and then suddenly something happens that He did not expect, because He didn’t had your insider information yet? You or I start praying and come up with a completely different idea, one that He had not yet thought of? Hmm, very intresting thought…
If we could correct Him and explain to Him that a different approach is better, are we still dealing with the Almighty? He who knows everything and directs everything? No, God has long since known what is best. Of course, He allows us to say that we would like to see things done differently. And I even suspect that the Lord sometimes accommodates us in those matters. But that’s not because our ideas were better. No, that’s because the Lord in His wisdom already knew that several options would be good.
Matthew 6:7-8
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
So why even Pray?
So Jesus is saying that the Father already knows what we need before we even ask Him! Well then, why ask? Let me explain with an example from my own family. My eldest son bought a nice old scooter. One of those things you can fiddle and tinker with endlessly. The thing didn’t run at all. So together we took out the carburettor and cleaned it. He reassembled it again himself. I knew in advance that he would need my help in tuning. But I waited quietly. First he tried by himself and almost succeeded. Then he came to me and asked if I wanted to help. I showed him, and now he can do it himself. Of course, I could have made everything go much faster if I had done it myself, but that wouldn’t have helped my son. Apart from getting his scooter to run well, he hadn’t learnt anything new. He will also be able to remember the time we spent together later. It’s a great time together!
That is what the Father in heaven also wants. He knows already what we need, but He wants to bless us with His presence. The closeness we get to experience is golden! It is not for God’s own benefit. He doesn’t need to learn anything from us. God does not gain anything from it. No, it is for our own benefit, education and our own growth. It is part of our sanctification. We are saved by the blood of Jesus, and during our life here on earth, God wants to sanctify us. Prayer means we are in conversation with the Most High. Then we cannot help but be touched in everything. It encourages and it builds up. It helps us to become more and more like Jesus.
1 Peter 1:15
But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation
Does our Prayer change anything?
Naturally every Christian will now say a resounding ‘yes’. And that is absolutely correct! Our prayer brings change. I want to read with you a piece from the letter of James. Before I do that, we have to realise that James writes very differently from Paul, for example. The letter of James is very much like the Old Testament wisdom writings. James does not seem to be concerned with the typical Greek style in which everything is explained and explained in detail. No, James uses more the style in which truths are enumerated—a bit like we see in the book of Proverbs. After reading the text, we will come back to this briefly.
James 5:13-18
Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
OK, back to what I said earlier about the letter of James. What I have often heard is that people elevate this text to a law or at least an unconditional promise from the Lord. After all, it clearly says that believing prayer willheal the sick person, doesn’t it? But I have just explained that James is not writing an owners manual here, or a ‘howto’. James lists truths without saying anything like ‘do this, then that’. He simply writes that a believer’s prayer can bring about much. His intention was certainly not to say that if someone does not heal, it is due to poor faith.
The friends of the paralysed man in Mark 2 had faith. They lowered their friend through a hole in the roof and Jesus healed him. Nowhere does it say that the paralysed man himself had faith. But what of Paul’s problem what he called a ‘thorn in the flesh,’ for which he prayed to God three times to take it away (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Instead of taking it away, God said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”
In Acts 12, Peter was imprisoned, and the saints prayed fervently for his release. Although Peter was miraculously freed, the same chapter also tells of the execution of James, John’s brother, who was also a leader in the early church. We may assume that the same saints who prayed for Peter’s release also prayed for James’ release. The prayers for James were not answered in the desired way, as he was killed by Herod.
So apparently, sometimes the answer to prayer is just ‘no.’ But the one thing James wants to make clear with his letter is the fact that God does answer our prayers at other times. His letter challenges us to seize every opportunity we get! It is not up to us whether the prayer is answered—it is up to us whether the prayer is prayed.
It would be really weird if all prayers were answered, without question, if only we had enough faith. What would this mean for those millions of brothers and sisters before us? Many of them died of disease and persecution, others simply of old age. But believe me, they all prayed for healing, and relief. Yet they died. Did they lack faith? No, of course not!
Now just look at the so-called prosperity preachers. They are all getting older and grey. And with old age comes defects. Those infirmities, according to their ideas, shouldn’t be there, right? Don’t be fooled by these so-called preachers who say you should claim healing! Name it and claim it, they say. They turn prayer into a magic trick and in doing so, they have taken away prayer’s greatest blessing. Namely, intimacy with God the Father.
In Faith, Deo Volente
We should pray in faith, but what does that mean? Quite simply, we may pray with faith that God will do what is best. Faith is trust! Trust that God knows better than we and that the outcome of your prayer will always be what the Father thinks is best.
Faith makes us dare to say with Jesus, “not my will, but thy will be done.”In Christian circles, we used to use the phrase Deo Volente, which means ‘God willing.’ It has fallen into disuse in many circles and that is a pity.
Let’s go back to James again, chapter 4:13-15
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Saying ‘Lord willing’is not a lack of faith! On the contrary, it shows faith. It shows complete trust in God’s insights and wisdom. It has been years since I had to learn to use this statement again. It was considered a bit weird by people around me—in the makeable culture of the Netherlands, surely we decide for ourselves how things turn out? Well, I can tell you one thing. Often things do not go the way you would have liked and prayed for at all.
We have been working in Madagascar for almost a decade now. Sometimes we thought everything was going fairly smoothly. I can remember us caring for a baby whose mother had died. In our area, the ancestors, in their immeasurable wisdom, decided that a baby should only be breastfed by her own mother. Does that mother die? Tough luck for the baby because no other mother is going to feed it. Here was Rosa and her father didn’t want her to die. So we provided him with powdered milk. That went well until a witch-doctor told Rosa’s father not to get milk from us anymore. “Lord! I’m really very angry, and I’m going to that guy to give him a good earful!” I don’t think the Lord resented me for this anger. After I told this man in question how I felt about the matter, he allowed Rosa’s father to fetch milk again. We solidly dedicated Rosa to the Lord in our prayers. She was a weak child, but if the Lord wanted it, it would work out. One day we had to leave for three weeks to get our visa work done. We gave the father powder for three weeks. When we returned, he did not show up. After much enquiry, we understood that Rosa was dead, and the father had left. That was all we came to know. To this day, I don’t know why the Lord allowed this to happen. But I choose to trust that He knows it all and is doing what is best. Deo Volente!
I know this is a sombre story, but it is almost in stark contrast to all the amazing things we have been privileged to see and do. We see how the Lord answers prayers. Not always exactly in the way we had planned, but always well, Deo Volente!
Okay, but what Does it do?
Well, what have we got to pray about now?
It is our response to God’s sovereignty: Although God is sovereign and has a divine plan, prayer is a means by which God works in the world. Through prayer, we participate in His plans.
Change in our personal lives: Prayer changes the one who prays. It promotes spiritual growth, it deepens our faith, and it strengthens our relationship with God. Through prayer, we learn what it is to be dependent on God.
Encouragement and comfort: Prayer offers comfort and encouragement, especially in difficult times. Prayer is the way to express our concerns and seek comfort in God’s presence.
Community and friendship: Joint prayer fosters a sense of unity and support within the Christian congregation.
Alignment with God’s will: Through prayer, we learn to better understand God’s intentions and desires. This helps us better align our habits and actions with Him.
Intercession and influence: The Bible teaches us and challenges us to pray for others. These prayers can have a huge impact on the lives of those we pray for.
Joy and gratitude: Prayer leads to a greater sense of joy and gratitude. When we are happy or grateful we may share it with the Lord. This will fill our hearts with worship.
You have probably heard of Charles Spurgeon. He was a British Baptist preacher, theologian, and writer widely regarded as one of the most influential and prolific preachers of the 19th century.
Spurgeon had the following to say about prayer:
Prayer is the powerful engine that moves the hand of God.
Prayer is not meant to change God’s purpose, but to achieve it.
he prayer of faith is the means by which we align our will with the will of God.
