Why Doesn’t Prayer Work?Sýnishorn

Your Kingdom Come Soon: How Can You Unleash God’s Power in Your Life?

By following Jesus’ example during His time on earth, we become more confident about what to pray and how to be in a relationship with God. But don’t worry if your prayer life isn’t perfect! 

You’ll still need those desperate “help me” prayers for difficult situations. You’ll still need direction for tough decisions. You may find yourself waiting to talk to God until the last minute when you’re out of options. You may be disappointed in the answers you receive (or have to wait for). And there may be times when you don’t know what to say.

But in the moments when words fail us, we can do what Paul wrote in Romans 8:26-27: “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying” (NLT).

Like any habit, it takes time to nurture consistent prayerfulness and patience. But as you regularly approach prayer as an ongoing conversation with the One who loves you most and has the power to do what you need, you’ll find yourself desiring more and more of these precious moments.

So allow God to unleash His power in your life by listening and being receptive to Him and by being willing to say “yes” to what God is saying. Only then can you truly understand that prayer isn’t about asking God to change things that you want, it’s about changing you so that you can be who God called you to be and do what He created you to do.  

Questions for Reflection: 

What have you learned about prayer over the past week? 

What takeaways do you have from the prayer lives of different people in the Bible? Who do you relate to the most? 

What is one step you can take today to grow closer to God?

We hope this plan encouraged you! Everyone should be able to read and understand the Bible in their language. But what if that’s not possible? Learn about Bible translation  and how it’s bringing hope to language communities around the world.