Prayer Is Action

Genesis 4:26
And then Seth had a son whom he named Enosh.
That’s when men and women began praying and worshiping in the name of GOD.

Peterson, E. H. (2005). The Message: the Bible in contemporary language (Ge 4:26). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Recently, in the light of events happening in our city and throughout the world, I’ve had several people ask “Aside from praying, what can we do?” In various social media platforms and on different media channels, I’ve heard people clamoring that “praying is not enough” and that we need to “take action” or “do something” instead of just praying about it.

For centuries, people have prayed. There is something instinctive about prayer. We know that we need to do it and that we can do it. We may not know how. Like Jesus’ disciples, we need the Lord to teach us to pray.

Prayer is action.

When we pray, we are doing something. And not just something simple, but something significant. Prayer has power. Throughout centuries, men and women have been praying to God and witnessing the results of those prayers. But we don’t pray just to get results. We pray to communicate and build relationship with God. God rewards faithfulness. The more faithful we are in our prayer life, the more readily God responds when we call on His name. Are you not more likely to heed the call of a friend than a stranger?

God is faithful even when we are not. Even though we may not practice prayer regularly like we should or constantly like Scripture instructs we should, God hears our calls and cries in our moments of desperation and frustration. Why? Because God is good and God wants to help us. God is for us, not against us.

Prayer works.

Scripture demonstrates often how people cry out to God and He responds. When we pray, we are doing something. We are reaching out to the all-powerful, all-mighty Creator of Everything, who is able to do all things, and for whom nothing is impossible. If God can’t solve it, it can’t be solved. And we know there is no mountain too high for God to climb, no problem to great for Him to resolve.

Prayer flourishes through commitment.

But prayer isn’t just something we should reserve for times of trouble, but rather a way of life we must strive to grow in daily. If want to see powerful results from our prayers, than we must be willing to put in the time to become powerful prayer warriors. Warriors aren’t formed after a few sit-ups or a couple of push-ups. Great weapons aren’t forged by a few bangs on a piece of metal or by a few moments in the fire. Rarely do we know how to fully use a tool properly without practice.

“Lord, teach us to pray.”

No matter how long we have exercised prayer,  we continue to grow in it daily. It takes practice. Like the disciples, who had grown up living in a culture that prayed, God can teach us more about prayer. As we communicate and fellowship with Him–something we do through prayer–the Lord instructs us in His ways and teaches us how to do things.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray like they heard him pray, he gave them this model found in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 11, verses 2-4:

“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Lk 11:2–4). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Yes, there are other physical things we must do to right the wrongs we see and ease the suffering we witness. Prayer is a launching point and the sustaining bread that fuels us as we seek to impact the world for God’s glory. Prayer is action.