Do Our Prayers Matter?

“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” (Alfred Lord Tennyson)

That thought stirs my soul and reminds me that even when we don’t see answers to our prayers, God is moving behind the scenes advancing His Kingdom and accomplishing things that we wouldn’t even believe if we were told.

Our prayers matter.

Our prayers are faith in action.

Our prayers accomplish more than we can imagine.

A few years ago, I witnessed God breakthrough in a major way in the life of one of my daughters. Countless heartfelt prayers had been offered up on her behalf. God spoke through His Spirit: “Kelly, a huge spiritual victory was won today.”

My heart was filled with grateful joy.

Later God showed me something that enlarged my understanding of the power of prayer:

He placed an image in my mind of my Grandma Jessie sitting in a chair with a Bible in her lap. Although she died when my dad was eleven, I knew from his stories that she was a woman of prayer and would often be seen reading her Bible with tears running down her face.

I sensed God telling me that the breakthrough I’d witnessed in my daughter’s life had also been an answer to my Grandma Jessie’s prayers. Tears filled my eyes as I imagined Grandma Jessie looking through the eyes of God and praying for the generations to come.

More than once, as spiritual victories have unfolded in my family and extended family, God has reminded me of this revelation.

“Even today we are walking in, standing on, and surrounded by answers to prayers prayed in the past by us and by others.” (Susie Larson)

Isn’t it a mind-boggling thought that our prayers and answers to our prayers remain even after we pass from this life to the next?

Therefore, “Let’s not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

The enemy of our souls tries to convince us our prayers don’t really matter. Although he can’t steal our salvation, he can certainly rob us of the joy of experiencing God’s power and care in personal ways.

Prayer is a mystery and yet we know that prayer works. God moves on faith and He chooses to unleash His Kingdom power into our lives and situations through our prayers and the prayers of others in ways that defy explanation.

May we be people who persevere in prayer, refusing prayerlessness as we choose to believe that each conversation with our Lord has eternal value.

Lord, we choose to “rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks to you in all circumstances because we know that is Your will for us in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)