Question description

Every believer in Christ Jesus believes that prayer changes things. However, there are many misconceptions about how prayer works. Let me ask:

1. Does prayer change God or the one praying?
2. What should be our focus when we pray?

Some believers say, "Prayer is an alignment with God." Could you help clarify the meaning of this statement?

Answer description

Regarding your first question, there are instances where the Bible states that God does change His mind. Read 2 Kings 20, about King Hezekiah. But those stories are rare. The more frequent lesson from the Word is that God is immutable. He cannot change. And the thought that a simple man knows what is best and can instruct God as to what He should do is unthinkable. So the simple answer is that we are the ones changed by spending time in conversation with God.

Your second question is more involved. The easiest answer would be that you focus on God. But how? I think of stories of the founding fathers of the Reformation and how they would rise at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning and go immediately to their knees and spend 3 to 4 hours in prayer before they did anything else in their day. I am always convicted that I do not spend nearly enough time in prayer myself when compared with these Heroes of the Faith. But the point here is that not all of that extended time would be spent focusing solely on God. Those men had spiritual needs and desires that they raised to the one who answers. But I believe the pattern is shown here for how we should engage in our prayer life. These men always spent the first part of their prayer time praising and thanking God for who He is and how He cares for us. Only after they had aligned themselves with God and felt close intimacy with Him, did they have peace about sharing their petitions.

Praise is always powerful and should be the key to aligning ourselves with the Father's thinking. There is a common acronym that is a pattern for prayer. A.C.T.S.  Easy to remember but what each letter represents is the important lesson. They stand for Adoration (loving God), Confession (putting ourselves in fellowship with God), Thanksgiving (giving thanks for all that God does for us), and only then do we go to Supplication (asking God for the things we need). The first 3 are focused on God, only the last is about us. So often when we go to prayer we immediately begin with supplication and start asking God for things. In doing this we ignore the most important part, just praising God for who He is and how he cares for us. So keep this in mind. And I have one more thought to share with you.

In the past, I led many mission teams in a service that was risky and sometimes dangerous. One of the first things I learned was how dependent on prayer we always were. All was out of our control and we were totally reliant on God. Thus we spent much time in prayer. And the lesson was that it is impossible to pray too much. So get on your knees, my friend, and draw close to Him in praise and thanksgiving.

Scripture references

Supporting resources

• Praying with A Kingdom Focus

• The Intimacy of Prayer

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