It is commonly said that “prayer is powerful.” Technically that statement is not true. 
God is powerful and prayer connects us with His power, but prayer in itself has no power. Think about it. Would you say that a light switch is powerful? No. The switch by itself is just simple molded plastic with some cheap conductive metal in it.
The only reason a light switch appears powerful is when it is connected to a substantial power source. A flashlight switch that draws light from a couple of batteries has a little power. A breaker at a football stadium turns on the flow of a lot more electricity. That is what prayer does. It connects us – as weak, insignificant and misguided as we are – with The Power that spoke the universe into being.
“As with the truth that is preached, prayer has no inherent power in itself. On the contrary, true prayer is bound up with a persuasion of our inability and our complete dependence on God. Prayer, considered as a human activity, whether offered by few or many, can guarantee no results. But prayer that throws believers in heartfelt need on God, with true concern for the salvation of sinners, will not go unanswered. Prayer of this kind precedes blessing, not because of any necessary cause and effect, but because such prayer secures an acknowledgement of the true Author of the blessing. And where such a spirit of prayer exists it is a sign that God is already intervening to advance his cause.” Iain Murray, Revival and Revivalism, p. 129
The “prayer is powerful” mindset can devolve into the false and dangerous idea that prayer is magic. If you just get the words right or the fervency right or the minutes and number of people praying right – then things will happen. No. That treats God like a vending machine and He will not be handled that way. Much of our unanswered prayer is the result of a magical view of prayer that God is intent on correcting. But the opposite error is just as problematic – to pray only “Thy will be done,” as nothing but resignation to the pre-determined decision of a distant and impersonal deity.
“The Bible simultaneously pictures God as utterly sovereign, and as a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God. Unless we perceive this, and learn how to act on these simultaneous truths, not only will our views of God be distorted, but our praying is likely to wobble back and forth between a resigned fatalism that asks for nothing and a badgering desperation that exhibits little real trust.” D.A. Carson, Praying with Paul, p. 31
Prayer is neither magic nor fatalism. Prayer is all about a relationship with our all-Sovereign, lovingly responsive heavenly Father. Trust is the solution to the badgering petitioner who demands things from God. Rest in His Fatherly plan. Believe in His goodness. Trust in Him with all of your heart and conform your thinking and desires to His. And faith is also the cure for the fatalist – faith that looks forward, that dreams with God of all that He can do and wants to do, that asks for the impossible and believes it will happen – not because we are wise and powerful but because God is gracious and mighty and good, and He works all things together in His perfect plan, even orchestrating our prayers into the symphony of history that resounds to the glory of His name.
Join us every Sunday this summer in the school of prayer from 9:15-9:45 a.m. in my office! We are all students, learning from and with one another. The best way to grow in prayer is to come and pray – so don’t let inexperience or lack of confidence keep you from coming. Let’s increasingly become a people of prayer who love God passionately and cry out to Him with total confidence in His plans and bold faith to ask for the impossible.