Day 10

Tonight I am contemplating the age-old question: Does prayer change things?

I started scanning the web for insights and was reminded that Philip Yancey wrote on a book on that very topic. Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? I’ll have to borrow that one from Dan’s library if he has it.

If nothing else, praying changes me. My praying – the act of prayer – changes ME. Whether I am praying for someone else or praying for myself, whether long or short, public or personal, I come away from the space that prayer creates as a changed person.

Maybe in our prayers, that is the starting point: our attitude, understanding, and response when transformed by leaning into God shapes our interactions with others. We are the beginning of their chain reaction, or should I say “change” reaction.

James writes in his epistle (James 5:13-16):
13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

James instructions are about taking the initiative and responding in prayer whatever our current condition. Prayer is about taking steps in God’s direction. Maybe when we open the door a smudge wider, others get a wider view of the other side, and that then changes them.

Posted by email from 40 Day Fast (posterous)