“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.