Day 32 Praying
Someone I dont know posted on Facebook yesterday ' Be honest, has prayer ever truly worked for you?'
I took it to be a post from someone who was having a dig at people who pray. But it made me think for a moment. Because I had just come back from an afternoon with a friend who has been praying for three years about a health condition and seemingly not getting any answers. I have prayed with her over these years, asking God for healing and for medical people to find answers. I prayed with her yesterday again. She is somewhat discouraged and finding it hard to trust that she is loved when she is in pain a lot of the time. And I can totally understand that. We all know the trite answers about prayers that arent answered - maybe God is saying not yet. Maybe He is saying no. God wants us to dig deep into Him. We are in a battle. We live in a fallen world. We know all of that stuff, but it doesn't help much when we have been faithfully praying for ages and seeing nothing happen.
After a bit of thought this is what I wrote in response to the Facebook post
What do you mean by 'worked'? If you mean did I ask God for something and it happened....yes, sometimes. If you mean did I talk to God about the stuff of my life, listen to what He had to say about it and feel comforted/heard/corrected/rebuked ...yes. If you mean did a miracle happen.....i prayed for someone in church who had conjunctivitis. By the time she got home all infection had gone. Id had a really sore back for weeks. Couldn't sit or stand or sleep. Was in agony. A 13 yr old girl from my church prayed a very simple prayer for me. The next day i woke up completely pain free. These things might be coincidence. But they happened after prayer. So ill opt for prayer as being the most likely reason 
within the space of a couple of hours I had over 30 people 'loving' my answer. There was a mixture of other replies to the original question - some clearly laughing at the very notion of prayer 'working' and others saying that they believe it is effective.
I have prayed for healing for people for 35 years. I can count on the fingers of one hand the times that someone has been healed within 24 hours of me praying. And I find that incredibly frustrating because I do genuinely believe everything Jesus said and believe it applies to me. I want to raise the dead and heal the sick and cast out evil spirits. I want to live a life where I am in Him and He is in the Father and we are one. I want to do the things that Jesus did and even greater things. I believe in the mighty power of the Holy Spirit to do miracles. I am not afraid to pray for anyone in pretty much any situation. I remember John Wimber saying that when he first started praying for healing people often got worse and some died! But he kept on praying because he believed that scripture was true. And eventually, after he had learned a whole lot of stuff, he started to see people being healed most of the time. So I keep on praying. Remembering that the worst that can happen when you pray for someone is that they feel cared for and valued.
The hardest thing was praying for my kids to be healed and them not being. Just things like sore heads and stomach bugs when they were young. I so wanted them to know that God answers prayers and I distinctly remember being cross with God for not ' proving Himself' to them by giving them the odd small miracle.
I remember John Paul Jackson saying that he found it difficult when he would have a word of knowledge about a certain medical condition in the room. Someone would come forward for prayer and he would pray but they wouldn't be healed - or at least not there and then. And yet he had had the word. And he had also experienced God's miraculous healing touch himself. So why would God show JP what was wrong with someone and then not heal them? Seriously frustrating.
A different friend of mine has had complex health difficulties over many years and Ive prayed for her and with her , as have many others, lots and lots of times. She has had numerous medical procedures and interventions and some of those seem to have made things worse. But a couple of weeks ago a new doctor suggested a new medication and overnight most of her pain and some other distressing symptoms disappeared. She said it felt like a miracle. And it was. And we believe that this was, finally, eventually, at last an answer to many many prayers. Another friend was in pain for ten years after a car accident. Ten years of praying and being prayed for before he got better. Maybe he would have got better without the prayer. Maybe not. Why did he have to suffer ten years of struggle? I dont understand.
And thats the key isnt it? We dont understand. We dont really have a clue what happens when we pray. We get a glimpse into the possibilities with Daniel
We know we are in a battle (Eph 6;12) against spiritual forces but I dont often consider that perhaps my prayers ( and our prayers as a church or a nation) are the subject of angelic battles in heavenly places as the answers try to get delivered. Daniels prayers for his nation were heard instantly and answered instantly but it took three weeks and two archangels before Daniel heard an answer. I cant imagine archangels getting involved with my prayer requests. But perhaps the minor angels are tasked with my prayers and it maybe takes them longer to battle through because they dont have the firepower and might of Michael and Gabriel 😊 Daniel ' set his heart on understanding' - he sought scripture for answers and on how to pray - and he humbled himself before God. Maybe this is where I could do better. Rather than just firing up a request, maybe I need to be finding out what God has already said about the situation. And then when Ive done my homework in scripture I need to humble myself - getting on my knees and properly beseeching God rather than just rattling off a prayer that sounds good to my own ears.
Let us not lose hope in the goodness of God and lets be alot better at sharing answered prayers because it is our testimony which defeats the enemy.
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