Lutheran Church Missouri Synod

Prayer Changes Things

By Dr. Richard P. Bucher

In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover." Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, "Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, `This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.'" (2 Kings 20:1-6)

Every Christian knows the importance of prayer to a healthy and faithful faith. At the same time, every Christian knows all about obstacles to a healthy prayer life -- things that get in the way of us praying as we want and should. Some obstacles are obvious. Busy-ness (real or imagined), laziness, and disorganization are obvious obstacles that trip up our prayer life. Other obstacles are more subtle, and, I'm convinced, more damaging.

One of these subtle obstacles involves the function of prayer. One of the harmful detours that my prayer life has taken now and again revolves around this. As a Christian, I have a very high view of God's power and providential will. I firmly believe that my crucified, risen, and ascended Lord Jesus Christ reigns, that nothing happens apart from His permission, that everything happens according to His will. Unfortunately my firm belief in this truth has often proven a hindrance to my prayer life. How so? It works this way: Because I believe that everything happens according to God's good and wise will, I have often failed to pray as I should or to pray at all. In my warped way, I have often excused myself from prayer because, I tell myself, God's will happens without my prayers anyway.

But this is a tragic mistake and a gross misunderstanding of the function of prayer. According to Scripture, prayer changes things, at times even God's will! I was deeply impressed by this truth in my devotion recently, as I was reading 2 Kings 20 (quoted above). There is no getting around the reality that God had decided that it was time for Hezekiah to die, that Hezekiah prayed and wept, and that God then changed His mind because of that prayer. Hezekiah's prayer averted his death, healed his sickness, and added 15 years to his life. Prayer did this.

Of course it is true that God's will often overrules our prayers, especially when we are praying for something that is harmful for ourselves or others. Of course it is also true that God blesses us exceedingly beyond all that we ask or think, that He gives us more than we can even think to pray. (see Ephesians 3:20-21). But having said this, our prayers in Jesus' name change things and in certain cases bring blessings that we or others otherwise would not have had. The fact is, we often rob ourselves and others of blessings because we do not pray. As James puts it, "You do not have because you do not ask" (James 4:2). The fact is, our prayers can dramatically change things. Our prayers matter. Our prayers can be wellsprings of blessings. But we must pray.

February 1999