“What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer

Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer”

These lines from the song originally written by Joseph Scriven sometimes act as a wake-up call for me. They make me realise how much extra (but sometimes unnecessary) effort I exert, simply because I do not “carry everything to God in prayer”.

Sometime last year, my vacuum cleaner stopped working. I tried repeatedly to fix it, but could not figure out what the problem was. It just wouldn’t work properly anymore. I had almost given up hope, and had already started shopping online for a new vacuum cleaner. But, I decided to give it one last chance. For some reason, a post I had seen on social media came to my mind. Someone had shared a testimony of how they had struggled to set up an item of furniture until they prayed about it. Then they were able to figure it out. I decided to pray about the vacuum cleaner. It seemed a bit awkward initially, but what did I have to lose?

I prayed about it, and in less than a MINUTE, God helped me figure out what the problem was. Something had moved out of place and needed to be clicked back in to place. It was so simple, an easy job which took about 30 seconds to fix. The vacuum cleaner started working properly again (and a year later, is still working perfectly!)

I had some “how had I not realised this before?!” moments , and some “why didn’t I pray about this ages ago, instead of struggling in my own might for ages?” moments. I mean, I had prayed before about fixing things, or finding lost items, and I had received answered to my prayers. So why, just why, did I still carry unnecessary burdens around?

There are multiple stories in the Bible of people praying and receiving specific guidance on what to do, which led to great blessings when they obeyed.
1 Samuel 30 tells the story of David and his men arriving at Ziklag to find it utterly destroyed, and their wives and children taken captive. They wept until they had no strength left to weep. I mean, imagine coming back home from a journey to find your house burnt down, and your family kidnapped. How would you process it?
I love what David did next though. He didn’t just react and act rashly, he asked God what he should do. God answered, and David obeyed. Interestingly, while on the path of obedience, an act of kindness made his journey to recovery and victory even faster. His men came across a slave of an Amalekite on the way. Would they have been tempted to kill him in revenge? Possibly. Thankfully they didn’t. Instead they fed him, and after engaging in conversation with him, he led them directly to the raiding party (after wisely obtaining assurance of his own safety first, smart guy!)
The outcome was that David and his men caught up with the Amalekites, and recovered every single person and item of property successfully. They recovered ALL.

There is also the story of King Hezekiah and the King of Assyria, in 2 Kings 18 – 19. The King of Assyria not only threatened Hezekiah, he taunted him. The King of Assyria actually sent a message to him, telling him, among other things, “Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” He actually told Hezekiah not to let God deceive Him! This serves as a reminder that even though we trust in God, there will be people, circumstances, events that will mock our trust in God. However, Hezekiah simply went up to the house of the Lord, spread the letter before God and prayed.

2 Kings 19:32-37 tells us the outcome. King Hezekiah did not even need to fight. God dealt severely with the Assyrians, and Sennacherib king of Assyria was killed by two of his own sons. All done without Hezekiah having to lift a finger in battle!
What if instead of praying, Hezekiah had just gone straight to war after being provoked? Even if he won, (which may not have been the case, as Assyria was very powerful) imagine how many casualties there would have been… how many soldiers, maybe even civilians, Israel would have lost. Thank God he showed wisdom in handing the situation over to God. I can only pray that I also remember to show such wisdom when faced with challenges!

There are of course, numerous examples in the New Testament of prayer changing situations in remarkable ways. Jesus and His followers prayed and received miracles in countless circumstances, from transformation of drink to multiplication of food, from healing for all kinds of diseases to raising the dead, from divine rescues to weather control, you name it. I find it fascinating how Jesus says “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” – John 11: 41-42 (ESV). What confidence in the Father! And this is before He even starts making any request or seeing results.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” – Zechariah 4:6 (ESV)
Isaiah 22:11 (NLT) says “Between the city walls, you build a reservoir for water from the old pool. But you never ask for help from the One who did all this. You never considered the One who planned this long ago.”
“With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” – 2 Chronicles 32:8 (NIV).

As Christians, when we fail to pray, we are like a man in a desert who has a full bottle of water in his backpack, but is dying of thirst because he doesn’t reach into his backpack to get what he has, a full bottle of water that will moisten his parched mouth and quench his thirst.

Or like a woman who has a car equipped with a navigation system, who has gotten lost while driving somewhere, but doesn’t bother to turn on the navigation system and use it. Instead, she keeps driving round and round in circles, making no progress and getting more frustrated as each minute passes.

I wonder why though? And that’s a question I keep asking myself. Maybe because we don’t realise the power in prayer? Or we have forgotten its existence or power? Or because we feel we don’t know how to? Maybe we feel we just don’t have the time? Or don’t think it’s important? Maybe we don’t want to bother God with our trivial issues? I’ll try to touch on each of these questions below.

Hopefully, even if we don’t realise, or have forgotten the power of prayer, I hope reading this post will act as a gentle reminder. Matthew 7:7 (ESV) says “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
If you feel that you are praying, but nothing seems to be happening, I would like to share an illustration relating to the efficacy of prayer I once heard during a sermon. It stayed with me ever since, and may be helpful for you. Praying was compared to being on an aeroplane, high up in the clouds, and looking down below. When you are that far up, it looks as if nothing is happening on the ground, like there are merely tiny toy buildings, trees, and cars, not moving at all, or maybe moving ever so slowly. But as we get closer and closer to the ground, we see that there is actually some activity taking place. By the time we get to the ground, we realise that it is a beehive of activity, far more than we could ever see or even imagine! That’s how it is when we pray. We may not always see immediate answers to prayer…some prayers may be answered instantly, but some may take years. However, even when it looks like nothing is happening, something is. That we don’t see something happening does not mean it is not happening. When a flower is growing, we don’t necessarily see every single step of the process. Eventually we see the flower in full bloom, and stop, stare and marvel at its beauty.
Similarly, answers to prayers may not always come in the way we expect or think, but we should remember that there is so much that we may not understand in the now. I’ve written a blogpost about this before (titled “Maybe now is not such a good time?” if you want to look it up). Our assurance should rest on God’s promises and wisdom rather than our human senses. We need to trust that God is working as we pray, that there is a beehive of activity taking place even if we can’t see it, just as Jesus demonstrated confidence in the Father before receiving perceptible answers. Sometimes also, that beehive of activity may actually be taking place in us as we pray, because prayer not only changes situations, it changes us as well.

I will be one of the first to admit that such childlike trust can be challenging sometimes, but I believe that as we grow as Christians, our trust grows as well. I take solace in stories like that of the father who came to Jesus asking for healing for his son. When Jesus asked if he believed, “he cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief!” (Mark 9:24, KJV). I feel like crying the same sometimes!
It may also help to keep a journal where we write down our prayer requests. We can revisit entries from time to time, and it may surprise us just how many prayers we prayed (and maybe even forgot about) that God answered.

How do we pray? That’s something some of us may struggle with. Thankfully, there are so many brilliant resources on prayer out there, but a simple way to start is found in Matthew 6:9-13.
“Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your Name.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”
God is our father and our friend, and we can talk to Him like we would our closest friends. But with a more secure, cast-iron guarantee, that He will never betray us or be too busy for us. Plus, He is not just a listening ear, he actually has the power to help us!

“Ah…but I have so much to do, when will I have the time to pray? There’s just no time!” I don’t know about you, but that’s one excuse I’ve been guilty of using. However, when I think about it, I realise that it is almost illogical in a sense. As in the vacuum cleaner example above, why spend hours doing something in my own strength, when praying is more efficient? Why spend time worrying about things when prayer is far more productive? Martin Luther once said “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”
Some people may find praying first thing in the morning works best for them (like Martin Luther perhaps?). But other options exist if you are the kind of person who shoots out of bed like a rocket, because your 10-minute snooze somehow magically morphs into an hour. There are so many little pockets of time we can take advantage of…during a walk, waiting for a bus, on the bus, stuck in traffic while driving, when cooking, washing up, ironing, going for a jog, or doing numerous other activities. There is the option of last thing at night. If you aren’t the type who ‘hits the pillow sleeping’, but tends to spend time mindlessly browsing or watching random things, then this could work for you. Whichever pattern we choose, consistency can be a great help.

There may also be things we don’t feel the need to pray about. Proverbs 20:18 (CEV) says “Be sure you have sound advice before making plans or starting a war.” ‘Sure, but it’s not like I’m planning to start a war’, we may think, ‘it’s only a small issue’.
However, as James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” There is no qualification on how big something needs to be before we pray about it. God didn’t add, “but only if it’s really important” to the end of that sentence.

Sometimes it’s the little things that trip us, like little time or energy bandits. For instance, have you ever spent more than 15 minutes looking for an earring back, when it fell just as you were putting on your earrings and getting ready to leave the house? So tiny and yet so frustrating. We can pray about things like that too.
As D.L Moody said, “Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The way to trouble God is not to come at all.”
“How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.” – Isaiah 30:19.

Prayer is so vital in our walk with God, not just for asking for direction or for our needs to be met, but for strengthening our relationship with God, getting to know Him better, for emphasising our need for and dependence on Him. When we pray, the scales shift… there is less of us and more of God, fear turns to hope; doubt is transformed to trust. Our burdens move from our worried hearts to His capable hands; fierce storms eventually become gentle breezes; weakness dissipates and strength rises as we pray and wait on God.

My prayer for us is that we won’t forfeit the priceless peace He has blessed us with, or bear needless pain, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Image Source: Random Internet Meme.