Prayer MattersSýnishorn

Partnership Through Prayer

In the beginning of Acts 12, before Luke recounts in detail the story of Peter’s release from prison, you will notice he starts by mentioning that Herod had just executed James. It seems that he is setting the two events in juxtaposition to one another, the only difference being prayer. What if the church had prayed for James as they had prayed for Peter? Is it possible that the story could have ended differently? Could prayer have changed the outcome of this tragic situation? Prayer does change situations because prayer is a fundamental way in which we partner with God.

The prophet Elijah is a great example of this principle. For three years and six months Israel had been plagued by famine until God promised the prophet that He would send rain. “And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, ‘Go show thyself to Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth’” (1 Kings 18:1). But at the end of the same chapter in which the promise was given, we see Elijah praying for the fulfillment of the promise. He cast himself down on the ground and put his face between his knees. Seven times he sent his servant to look for any sign of rain, and in the meantime, James 5:17 tells us that he “prayed earnestly.”

One might wonder why Elijah needed to pray at all if God had already promised that He would send the answer? But Elijah understood that the promise required partnership through prayer. Prayer is a partnership between heaven and earth that is exercised when God’s people agree with the purposes of God and pray those purposes into being in the earthly realm. Oh, how many promises there are to the child of God who will only take ahold of them earnestly through faith and prayer. Yes! Prayer does matter. It has the power to change the world.