Prayer: It Works

Sometimes it seems like prayer never works.  Never helps.  Maybe God’s not listening.  But you have to have the faith to be able to banish those thoughts no matter what is going on in your life.  GOD ALWAYS HEARS.  He always answers.  The only thing is that he doesn’t always answer as you would have him.  I have read in many older books that God answers either with “yes,” “no,” or “not now.” 

As an example of how God works is school.  Public school is not the easiest place to tell someone that you’re praying for them.  There was a girl in one of my classes that I knew was a Christian but she was having a lot of what she termed “drama” in her life.  She softly admitted to me and a friend that she had even thought about cutting herself.  I asked her if she had prayed about it.  She hung her head for a moment and then she said looked up and said, “Yeah.  God doesn’t want me to do it.”  I felt terrible for her.  But how could I help her when I had only met her that semester?

The answer: I could pray for her. 

Every day I prayed for her.  That God would give her strength and feel His love and that the drama wouldn’t overwhelm her.  That she would have peace.  The one day I was talking her again (I also made sure I at least said hi to her every day, to remind her that someone else cared) and she was looking pretty depressed as she told me that she didn’t think the drama would reach her on weekends, but it did.  I felt God prompting and I told her “I’m praying for you.” She smiled a little and said thanks.

Maybe a week or so later, she came up to me and said, “Megan, I want to thank you for praying for me.  It gave me the courage to talk to my friend [that she was having trouble with].”  I felt so blessed that my simple prayers every day could make a difference in someone’s life. 

Why?  Because God is always listening and God works daily in our lives.  Prayer works.