21 Days of Prayer ChallengeSample

Day 13: Do my prayers really make a difference?

From Pastor Mark Zehnder

I am the product of the persistent prayers of my mom and dad when they were initially unable to have children. Despite the medical world's dire predictions and strong doubts, they pressed on in prayer, and well, along came me! And then Carole, Steve, Tim, Lisa, and Michael! My dad always said the moral of that story is, "When you pray, duck!"

And now it is a stupendous blessing that God has blessed me with a hard-to-explain gift of praying for couples who have had difficulty conceiving. I am sure that it has been near one hundred couples I have prayed for over the years, some who were told they would never have children, that now have kids!

So based on my personal story and personal experience, my answer to this question is a HUGE "absolutely, yes, prayer makes a difference!" But it's not my personal story or personal experience that gives me the most confidence to answer this way. The biggest reason to believe that prayers make a difference is because the Bible says they do! Read through the Scriptures for the day today, and you will be reminded of this truth.

I think of times when people's prayers in the Bible made such a huge difference. Remember when the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah with the message God had given him to deliver that Hezekiah was going to die.

Hezekiah heard that and prayed that God would spare his life. God sent Isaiah back with the answer that He had heard his prayer and would add 15 more years to his life. On top of that, he then gave him a miraculous meteorological sign that reminded him that God could do anything, even override the laws of nature.

Or how about all the times the Lord's holy anger would threaten to wipe out his people? Time and time again, Moses would plead with the Lord, and God would hear Moses' prayer and change the course of his action.

All that said, the very implication of this question is that it does seem, at times, that our prayers might NOT be making a difference. Part of this answer is found by looking back at Day 9. Another aspect of this is God calling us to persevere. I love the story of the woman who would not give up before the judge that we are reading today in Luke 18:1-8. In this parable, Jesus teaches us that we should always persevere in prayer, even when the answer can be slow in coming.

So, my encouragement to you…if you wonder if your prayers make a difference? Keep on praying! Don't give up! Keep on asking, seeking, and knocking, and God will do his thing!

Day 13 Challenge: What is the one thing you will persistently continue to pray for? Set reminders and pray for this one thing at least 7 times today.

Prayer Prompt: For your family