“Does Prayer Work?”

Unanswered prayer is something that everyone struggles with at times, but it may not be that mysterious after all. Particularly with hindsight, when I consider life backwards I am rather relieved that He didn’t answer some prayers and even more relieved that He didn’t answer prayers said for me by others or I may have been peppered with lightning bolts and drenched in lashings of Greek Fire long ago! Fortunately He is irritatingly patient with sinners. 

Our Prayer life goes hand in hand with our evolving or developing relationship with God. From follower to disciple to servant to friend and then to son (or daughter) and at each point there is a different attitude to prayer, a different level of intimacy with God and often a quite different result as our hearts are brought into closer harmony with His. 

Sadly, many stop praying when they discover that God is not Santa Claus and not there to cater to our whims or often selfish demands. He has so much more to offer than mere trifles. Perseverance is certainly a part of the training in prayer and some things can take months or years of prayer but listening is also crucial, asking the right questions in order to refine your prayer until it becomes in line with His desires. As C.S. Lewis noted ‘prayer does not change Him, it changes me.’ 

Perhaps this underlines too the usefulness of seeking the intercession of the saints, as when we pray the Rosary for example, as we offer our prayer through Mary who is uniquely related to God as daughter, mother and spouse, she can ‘correct the grammar’ and perfect the prayer as she would be aware of what is needed more precisely than we would. 

With time, practice and an open heart, prayer will become a joy, a dynamic two-way street and as He changes our hearts more and more, we will be more attuned to know the right things to pray for and answered prayer will become as normal as breathing. 

We have a tradition in our prayer group where at the end of the year, we have a prayer of thanksgiving for the year that passed and petitions for the next, which we record and review. There are very few unanswered or delayed, nowadays.

Melanie forgives her mother ..a story from Australia

Now in her early twenties, Melanie grew up not knowing why she was always angry with her mother and at times didnt want to live. She left her home in Malaysia and came to Australia to attend university but never found happiness.

Eventually she asked her mother why she felt this way and what her mother said shocked Melanie to her soul; Because of problems in her marriage Melanie's mother wanted to abort her when she found out she was pregnant. Melanie said they both cried when she told her, but her feelings of rejection and worthlessness grew to a painful degree from that time.

During the final rally at a Christian Congress, a lady called Cheryle  had shared a vision of a baby in a mother's womb with the placenta being removed and the child being set free. Cheryle said that God was healing someone from the womb. Moved by what she heard Melanie finally asked for prayer when the call was made. As soon as the prayer began I felt a powerful love touching my heart and I knew it was God. She said. I had never known love before and it completely overwhelmed me. Melanie said that Gods embrace had given her the ability to forgive her mother completely. Failing to hold back tears, she told her story for the first time as Cheryle comforted her. 

Melanie was set free by Gods grace and was able to offer mercy to her mother. After the Congress Melanie contacted her mother and told her for the first time that she loved her. When her mother heard Melanie's forgiveness and words of love, her mother broke down in sorrow. As Melanie shared what God had done for her and how much she loved her mother no matter what she had tried to do, over twenty years of guilt vanished from her mother's heart in a flood of tears. By Gods grace and unfathomable mercy Melanie's mother found a new daughter and Melanie found a new mother that day as the grace of forgiveness flowed with healing love. Both are now healed and reconciled.