“Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria’” – Isaiah 37:21
We humans like to overthink things. That can include overthinking prayer. We ponder what and how prayer works. Why should we tell our needs to an all-knowing God? Why should we have to articulate our requests to a God Who is always for us? If God is all-good, can our prayers even make a difference? Does prayer change God’s mind or plan? The list goes on…
Don’t overthink prayer! The Bible invites us to pray, encourages us to pray, and commands us to pray. Jesus, the Son of God, prayed often and modeled a life of prayer for us. We’re told that prayer has great power (James 5:16). We see the power of prayer throughout the Bible. In this passage, King Hezekiah is told that because he prayed about the Assyrian invasion of Judah, God would dramatically and miraculously rescue them from Sennacherib.
Not all prayer is answered with a visible “Yes”. Not all prayer is answered as quickly or dramatically as Hezekiah’s prayer. However, all prayer is heard by God. One of the greatest privileges of Christian life is being able to approach God on His throne and make every request, concern, fear, anxiety, and burden of our heart known to Him. Through our ongoing life of prayer, we come to know God better, our heart is aligned to His heart, our fellowship with Him ripens and matures, and we absolutely do see many prayers answered.
Jesus was clear: ask and keep asking, seek and keep seeking, knock and keep knocking, pray persistently and never give up!