By Susan Wordal
I’ve been thinking, lately, about the power of prayer. We are constantly asked to pray for things or people; for cures and for the end to war and strife. But you wonder, sometimes, if it really helps. Being something of a skeptic, I’m not totally sure. But then, I don’t put it to the test much.
So, I went looking for some guidance from “the good book” as they say. Given that I look at the Bible the way I do any other collection of stories, it’s literature and you get out of it what you find in it, I figured maybe there would be some help there. Besides, it can be fun to see what happens when you type a query into a search engine.
One of the first verses I found was short, sweet, and rather to the point:
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:12 (ESV)
I thought this translation was a little better than the NIV version which has us being joyful and then patient in affliction. I think tribulation is a better word than affliction. It suggests we are given challenges, or trials, or misfortunes (tribulations), not just illness or a disorder to work through or be patient while it does what it does. It fits with what I do believe about God. The Creator doesn’t heap bad things upon us, or throw these things in our path. Rather, the Creator walks with us as a comfort, as a friend, as a helper. We aren’t judged by the Creator based on how we handle the good or the bad. As long as we turn our sights or our prayers on the Creator in all situations, then we will get through them. Seems to fit the message in Romans.
And then I run into a verse like: “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Matthew 21:22 (ESV), which seems to alter my theory out of all proportion. It suggests that if we have faith, but our prayer isn’t answered, then we didn’t have enough faith. I’m not entirely sure that’s really the message, but if you can say it one way, you can say it the other, so what is that all about?? I mean, we ask for healing for people, we ask for a stop to war, we ask for peace, and yet we lose good people to diseases we hate, we listen to the news of war in places near and far, and we struggle for peace, even in our own communities, and yet, these things don’t happen. How do we believe in prayer and its power when we don’t see the changes we want?
And then we come across a “human interest story” in the paper, or on the internet, or we hear an anecdote from a friend about someone who did something out of the goodness of their heart, or put themselves in peril for another. It’s those stories that get me. It’s those stories that make me think: What if the answer to my prayer for peace, or the answer to my prayer for salvation of another is not exactly what I envisioned, but what the Creator finds they can achieve on that day? What if the Creator does the best they can to answer the call, but not all tribulations are within their power? What if the individual stories are written? What if our paths are somehow pre-ordained to some extent and our presence here serves a higher purpose than the one for which we pray?
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” Luke 6:27-28 (ESV)
Maybe this is why the power of prayer works. The Creator is not a discriminating entity. Their power is shown in large ways and small ones. But if we are to truly turn bad things around, then we have to be willing to say a prayer for those who do bad things, who think bad thoughts, who grasp power for the sake of power. Praying for those people doesn’t involve asking for anything complicated. We ask for that which is possible: that those hurt might recover or find peace; that those who might be impacted will be spared, and if they cannot be spared, that they will be helped or will be at peace; that those who must live under someone bent on grasping power will be set free. It’s all about how you phrase your prayer.
So, here’s my prayer: That those who seek to hurt may see the error of their ways and reform, that those who harbor bad thoughts may be released from them and find inner peace, that those who seek power or abuse their authority may be brought to understand the harm they do and find a different way.
See, I didn’t ask for retribution. I didn’t ask for a plague of locusts or the proverbial collision with a semi or other destructive force. In my understanding of the universe, we deal only with what is within our control. The ultimate answer to the prayer is above our pay grade. I had to learn that as a prosecutor. It’s not a job you can do without learning that, sometimes, you cannot achieve a just outcome for a victim, but you know you aren’t the only avenue for accountability. And the Creator will continue to walk with us and provide us with choices for what we can do within our earthly ability. IE: the power to learn and then educate, the power to stand up and seek justice for all (even when it’s one bad act addressed at a time), the power to cast an informed vote. When we are faced with a choice that sounds more like the rock vs the hard place, then we must trust that we will get through it, and if we don’t get through it unscathed, then we are either an example for someone else (walking in grace through a medical issue), or we must learn something to later pass along to another.
And there is power in prayer, if used correctly and with grace. It might not move the proverbial mountain, but it can have the same impact, if only through the eyes of another. So, use that power wisely and well. Ask for what is possible, but don’t expect a miracle so much as peace, even if it is only internal and known only to you. Offer a hand when you are able and know that, at the end of our path, sometimes there are two sets of footprints in the sand, and sometimes there is only one set. At those times, we were carried by faith, whether ours or someone else’s.
So, embrace the power of prayer. What is the mountain you want to move? How can that happen, and what concrete acts of positivity can you perform to aid in making that prayer come true? And what must you learn to accept? What is beyond those concrete acts of positivity? How will you find the wisdom to do what you must and accept what you must and yet, bring about hope? Let’s see what your prayer can do today.