The Power of Prayer
How Asking God For Help Can Change Your Life
“18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
I recently asked over on my Facebook page what content people wanted to see from me as I was planning out my upcoming content. ‘What topics can I cover to help you right now? What are some of the biggest questions you have about me, my story, my mental health journey and my walk as a Christian?’ Getting specific answers about what you want to see from me helps to make sure I’m serving you the best way that I can.
A friend commented the following; ‘Power of prayer. Is prayer a moment of self-reflection which helps with your mental health? In a world where we never stop and think about things, does prayer help fill that need?’ I loved this suggestion! So much so that I didn’t want to rush into a half-hearted answer, it needs to be given time to give the topic justice.
What is prayer?
A dictionary definition says the following on prayer;
prayer
noun
a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God or another deity.
"I'll say a prayer for him"
invocation
devotion
a religious service, especially a regular one, at which people gather in order to pray together.
"500 people were detained as they attended Friday prayers"
an earnest hope or wish.
"it is our prayer that the current progress on human rights will be sustained"
In the article Why Christians Pray & the Meaning of Prayer in the Bible, the Just Disciple website says this; “Prayer in the Bible is how believers of God talk to him. It's how they make their praise and requests known. The Scriptures are filled with beautiful examples of people crying out to God and asking for his strength, guidance, healing and more.”
“The LORD detests the
sacrifice of the wicked,
But the prayer of the upright
pleases him.”
What does the Bible say about Prayer?
James 5:13-16
New International Version
The Prayer of Faith
13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Prayer
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
And Luke 11 has that same scene as follows;
Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer
11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity, he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Why should we pray?
By praying we’re opening ourselves up to grow, change and love by spending time with God and it helps to strengthen our relationship and communication with our heavenly Father. If we don’t talk to Him through our prayers, how will we be able to recognise His voice when He speaks to us? We need to pray so we can determine if it’s God speaking to us, trying to get us to do and believe things or if it’s the devil. If we don’t recognise His voice we are more likely to listen to the devil and we know that no good will come from doing that.
Prayer is a weapon we use to fight the enemy, the devil who is always waiting on the sidelines to attack us. He is very adept at knowing our weaknesses and just how to get at us so we must pray daily to arm ourselves against him and his lies. Through prayer, God can align us and our lives with His will and plans for us by letting us in on some of the steps when it’s time for us to know them and when we’re ready to act on them as well.
Ways to pray.
Prayer can have four simple steps. They are evident in the Lord's prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13:
Address your Heavenly Father
Thank Him for your blessings
Ask Him for blessings
Close in the name of Jesus Christ.
Prayer can be said in your mind or out loud. Praying aloud can sometimes focus one's thoughts, and they can be spoken at any time. You can pray anywhere and at any time as God is always listening to you.
Prayers will always be answered although not always in our timescale or in the manner that we expect because God knows us so much better than we know ourselves. And more importantly, He knows what we need as He also knows what’s coming up for us, because He designed the path of our life for us.
There is also the A.C.T.S method of prayer. A = adoration, C =confession,T= thanksgiving and S= supplication. Adoration; give God honour and praise for who He is. Confession; this is self-explanatory. At this point, you confess your sins to God and ask for His forgiveness. Thanksgiving; Thank Him for all that He has done for you in your life and thank Him for answering any previous prayers. And the last one is supplication which is where you ask for any prayers for yourself and for others in need.
Why do I pray?
When my thoughts are spiralling and my anxiety is beginning to overwhelm me, prayer helps me with my mental health as it calms me down when I pray. It re-centres me and brings me back into the moment instead of focusing on maybe’s and what if’s.
Last year during the first lockdown when I was going through therapy I would often pray to God for help and guidance for what I was going through. I would pray to Him for Him to do what He Willed with me and the situation. It’s a prayer that I would say daily and even sometimes numerous times a day while I was often in tears because I was at such a low point. I just didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t do it all on my own and I wasn’t meant to, He was waiting for me to ask Him for help
My church community were praying for me from around the time I met them at the beginning of January 2020, I just didn’t know about it for the majority of the year. Due to the virus that shall not be named, my church began dial-in prayer meetings twice a week and this is where they would pray for me, as well as in their own private prayer time.
One Friday night my church was having a service on Zoom so we could take communion together and one of the leaders was saying a prayer. In it, he asked for comfort for those who had lost someone to Covid, and as my cousin-in-law had recently passed away from this, a few tears began to run down my cheeks. The leader then asked for help with those that were struggling with anxiety, and that’s all I remember as tears ran down my face like a waterfall. I felt held and then it was as if an actual weight was lifted off my shoulders and it was such a relief. It felt like God was saying to me that those burdens I was carrying weren’t mine to carry, He’d taken them off me.
That night I had the gamechanger dream with me and my ex where I was dominant and he was submissive and scared of me. It was a total role reversal and when I awoke I felt God’s presence all around me, letting me know that I was going to be okay.
How do I Pray?
I’m still very new within my walk as a new Christian and therefore also new within my prayer life. I’ve got a lot to learn in both areas and especially in the latter. I easily get distracted while praying and so I always forget to end it, which may or may not make a difference.
I begin my prayers by reciting the Lord's Prayer followed by the Serenity Prayer and I say them one after the other whenever I feel anxious. They help to calm me down by getting me out of my head and the swirling thoughts I was having and putting me back into the moment that I am actually in.
My prayers often start out as gratitude lists. I thank him for my basic needs being met; clean running water as well as the means to heat the water, the food that I have to eat, the means to keep the food cool as well as to be able to cook the food, my job, the money in my bank, my home etc. I mention things that I'm thankful for in my current life and the things that God has done for me, how He’s led me, guided me, supported me, and put people in my life to help me along on this journey.
I thank Him for always being with me even though I didn’t always acknowledge or know Him as I do now, for my communities at church and online as part of The Master’s Fam and for my family and friends who have been there for me as well. I ask for prayers for my friends, family, community as well as myself, for help and guidance for my day ahead and in specific situations.
I’m still learning how to spend my prayer time including if there is a time of day that is better for me than another or whether I need a couple of prayer times a day and how to structure my prayers as well. There is a lot of information out there about prayer and I’ve not read much of it because I am so overawed and overwhelmed about prayer.
I know it’s probably because I’ve not yet found a formula as such that works for me and I because I forget to end the prayer so many times.
How does praying help me with my mental health?
I already mentioned above how it calms down my anxiety by giving me something else to focus on. It enables me to have a conversation with my Heavenly Father giving me time and space to be able to hear anything He may have to say to me. It also helps me to remember that I’m not alone and that He’s always with me, at all times.
Recently on an episode of The Messy Masterpiece Podcast, one of the hosts Tori Masters said how she had started to go to bed praying for others and how she had a better nights sleep compared to when she didn’t go to bed praying for others. I loved this idea and tried it for a few nights and may I just say wow!! I slept so much better than I have in a while, no waking up in the middle of the night or silly early morning wake-ups and it’s been helping me feel like I’m getting better quality sleep as well.
