What are the Benefits of Prayer?

What are the Benefits of Prayer?

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)

Praying is the act of worship and communion with God. Although popularly seen as a means of asking something from God, praying actually brings benefits to the believers that we sometimes are not aware of. Some of these benefits are obvious while some others are less obvious.

Praying strengthens our relationship with God the Father.

Praying to God is actually obedience to the will of God in our lives (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). God wills that we pray continually, be joyful and grateful always in our lives. Continuing, constant praying builds our relationship with the Father because we spend time with Him. Remember our relationship with other people? In the same way as we become closer to each other when we spend time with each other, then our relationship with our Father in heaven is strengthened because we spent time with Him in prayer.

Praying taps on the power of the Holy Spirit.

Revivals are birthed in prayer (Acts 4:31-33; Acts 2:1-4). As the people of God prays, the Holy Spirit acts upon the prayer for power, boldness, encouragement.

Praying causes heaven to open.

Isaiah was praying for the Lord to rend the heavens, to tear open the heavens (Isaiah 64:1-2). This is the prayer of the prophet’s heart as he laments in prayer and petition to God. When we pray, we bring to God’s attention our faith in what He has in store for us. Our blessings, our spiritual gifts, our spiritual treasures are in Heaven. We can ask God in prayer to open the Heavens so we can receive these spiritual blessings. Praying is actually touching heaven when our knees are touching the floor.

Praying brings physical and spiritual healing.

Bringing our sick body to God in prayer is physical healing (James 5:14-16). Confessing our sin is spiritual healing (Psalm 32:4-5). In praying, we affirm our faith in our God who can heal us both our physical and spiritual illness. When we feel our body is sick, we come to the God in prayer. When we seek forgiveness, we also come to God in prayer (1 John 1:9)

Praying helps us overcome temptation.

Temptation is a solicitation of the passions; enticements to evil proceeding from the prospect of pleasure or advantage. Since temptation tugs at our passions, our flesh is always weak in terms of resisting it (Matthew 26:41). It is therefore important for us to realize that whenever we are tempted by flattery, by offering of pleasure or advantage, or prospect of good despite evil, then our only resort is to pray. This suggestion is biblical (Luke 22:40).

Praying delivers us from difficult circumstances.

Every time we connect with God in prayer, we are praising Him because we are acknowledging our need to set our burdens on His strong shoulders (Isaiah 25:4). It is difficult to meet the expectations of Scripture regarding prayer whenever we are in difficult circumstances. When we are in a difficult situation, we fail to pray with thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6). When the situation we’ve prayed about for so long is only getting worse. But God’s word encourages us to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17) When waves of grief knock us over, pull us down, and hold us under, we pray without ceasing. When disappointment and anger over dashed plans and failed relationships consume our thoughts and our unquiet hearts, we seek energy from prayer. When praying, we can be delivered from the darkest part of the storm, He is there as a stronghold to keep us standing against the crashing waves and raging winds. A man on his knees in prayer can stand before any tragedy.

Praying brings about growth.

When we pray, we find growth in our spiritual life (Acts 6:6-7). We discover how we freely express our frustration, how we allow our tears to flow, how we let the Lord know that we are angry at something or someone, and we find that we have grown from our lowly status into a stronger person. A praying person is a spiritually growing person.The apostles and church leaders during the NT times have experienced that when they are prayed for, the work of the Lord flourished. The faith of the church increases with fervent prayers.

Praying releases workers for the ministry.

The church finds its power in praying for people that the Lord will raise up and call for the work (Acts 14:23-24). In the history of the church of Jesus Christ, we see that prayers raise up mighty men and women who offer their lives for the gospel. The lives of John and Charles Wesley are classic examples of lives dedicated to the work of the Lord through the praying apron of their Mom, Susana Wesley. Constant praying leads to victories, victories in our personal lives, victories in the church (Acts 1:24-26)!

Praying redirects the focus of our lives.

For some of us, whose operating on a very busy schedule, we choose to direct our focus in our lives. Some of us choose to be prayer warriors, some of us choose to pray for families, some of us choose to pray for the sick. Whatever is our choice, we are directing the focus of our lives to what the Lord wills in us (Acts 6:1-4). When we need guidance, we turn to prayer for the Lord’s wisdom. When we are weak, we turn to prayer for strength and comfort. When we are dejected, we turn to prayer for meaning and direction. When we need a change of heart, we turn to prayer for the Lord’s fresh touch. It is praying that we switch the focus from our fleshly shortcomings to a divine strength.

Praying results to good works.

Paul prayed for the Colossian believers to live life worthy of the Lord. This life is a life of good works (Colossians 1:9-12). Good works result from prayers, and they are the means to a godly end (2 Corinthians 1:10-11). It is through praying that we expect good work to result through our lives. It is also through praying that we expect good work to flourish among the brethren and among the leadership of the church.

Have we experienced these benefits of praying to God?

J. K. Johnson wrote a story in Why Christians Sin (Discovery House, 1992) about a small town that had historically been "dry", but then a local businessman decided to build a tavern. A group of Christians from a local church were concerned and planned an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. It just so happened that shortly thereafter, lightning struck the bar and burned it to the ground. The owner of the bar sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the congregation were responsible, but the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that they were not responsible. The presiding judge, after his initial review of the case, stated t hat "no matter how this cased come out, one thing is clear. The tavern owner believes in prayer and the Christians do not."