"Prayer" : The most powerful energy

Andrew Heanngam Pamei *

A prayer service during Manipur Catholic Mission Congress in December 2010

"Pray continually" -1 Thessalonians 5:17

Prayer is a relationship or perhaps a kind of conversation, wherein we humbly communicate, worship and sincerely seek God's face, believing that He hears us, loves us and will respond though not always in a manner we may expect or desire. To develop a clear idea of prayer, we must have a clear idea of God. To speak biblically, I can say God is a personal being because we are all made in His own image and likeness. And this is crucial in prayer because it means that God is a person we can interact with. But if He is not a personal being, prayer wouldn't be that meaningful. Since God is a personal being, prayer has a profound meaning and purpose.

In fact, prayer is a dialogue and not a monologue. It is not just about asking for God's blessings – Though we are welcome to do so – But it's about communication with the living God. Without communication, relationships fall apart. So, too, our relationship with God suffers when we do not communicate with him. God is all loving (Omni benevolent). In relation to prayer, this means God always desires the best for us because He loves us. And since God loves us, He never takes away the good and desirable unless he sees a better one. When God aims to do a great work in us, he starts by planting a spark of desire in our hearts. Then he fans it into a flame through prayer.

Prayer, in fact, is not an opportunity for us to show off that we believe in God. As it is rightly said in the Gospel of Mathew 6:5 "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 men". We must not be haughty but humble in prayer. As mentioned above, "Pray continually", means in one sense that we must strive to have a prayerful attitude. Our prayers must come often and regularly, not from legalistic duty but from the silence of our humble heart, realizing our dependence on God and in every aspect of our lives.

Since God's most precious gift- "life" has been given to us, let us at all times offer ourselves to the Lord by spending some time in prayer every day. Let us kneel down and pray but let us not cease when we rise. Let our prayer be life-long; and let our life be one long prayer. There are no problems that cannot be solved by prayer, no suffering that cannot be allayed by prayer, and no evil that cannot be overcome by prayer. It is communion with God, the miracle by which God's power flows into human veins. So, let prayer, be our weapon in everything that we do.

Let us at all times greet the dawn of the beautiful new day and bid adieu to the wonderful setting of the sun with a prayer of thankfulness- for a fresh day granted, and for his grace received thus far, so that our life will be blessed and thus will we radiate his blessings to all around us.

Prayer works wonders. Even when the medical board pronounces a case to be hopeless, prayer comes to the rescue, and the patient is miraculously cured or healed. There have been many instances of this description. Many may be aware of these Healing by prayer is really miraculous and mysterious. What I firmly believe is that, even the best medicine will not work unless the power of God works on that medicine. Prayer is an unfailing remedy in all situations. Through prayer, I came to learn that there's no greater truth than that with men some things may be impossible, but with God all things are possible. Prayer time is the time when even our burden seems lighter than the fallen leaves of autumn tree.

Nowadays we hear a lot of news about crime, rape, burglars, etc. They are all nothing, but the result of the product of distorted mind. It is the distortion of mind which is needed to be dressed to control, not by preaching, not by telling, not by punishing and not by life sentence but by dressing one's mind through prayer. The power of prayer can heal a distorted mind and bring back one's life to walk in the path of God. So let us be prayer warriors, let us go forth and work forth for the greater glory of God.

When we pray for something and when we didn't get the result of what we're praying for, we think that God didn't hear our prayer and we tend to give up. But we really shouldn't. God always listens to our prayer but to answer that prayer or not is His will. Let's take the case of Elijah who prayed for rain with no cloud in sight. He prayed once, twice, thrice, four times and five times, but there was no response. He prayed six times, that too he found no response. But he never quit praying for rain. No, response to the prayer of Elijah doesn't mean that God didn't listen. He did. When Elijah prayed for the seventh time, God answered his prayer and Israel got wet.

The shower of the rain after the seventh prayer of Elijah clearly tells us that God listens to our prayer and to answer or not to that prayer is His holy will. Never give up on prayer. We need to remember Elijah everyday and pray up a storm, hardships, problems and tensions of life. Just because you can't see the air doesn't mean that you can stop breathing and likewise just because you can't see God doesn't mean you can stop believing in God. God is always there around to bless us and make us live a wonderful life just as air is there for us to breathe and stay alive.

I personally think some people don't pray because they don't understand how powerful prayer really is. The truth is it's one of the greatest privileges we have. Anyone can pray. Be it the blind, the lame, the armless, the puny, the ignorant and the debased, the lowliest and the forlorn- all can pray for prayer belongs to the heart and its feeling, and not to the body. It doesn't demand high intelligence or high qualifications in life for what God wants is our heart when we pray. Even just a few words from a humble, pure soul, though illiterate, will appeal to the Lord more than the eloquent following words of an orator or a learned man. What God treasures most is the honest longing from the depth of one's heart, not an impressive hypocrite's whisper of prayer.

Corrie ten Boom, a holocaust survivor once said, "The devil smiles when we make plans. He laughs when we get too busy. But he trembles when we pray." God is never more than a prayer away from us, for heaven is ready to receive us when we pray. And there is no prayer worth more than praying to do the will of God in every situations of life. The value of prayer is not that God will hear us but that we will finally hear him when we persistently pray.

Our prayers must be backed by faith. Faith is not thinking that God can; but knowing that He will. When we finish our prayer, we must actually believe that what we have asked for in our prayer has already been granted to us. So that we may as well thank God for it. And we may have, what we ask God for. A day hemmed in prayer is less likely to unravel. If you want to pray better, pray more, says Mother Teresa. To make our prayer forceful, she further advises that our prayers should be burning words coming forth from the furnace of a heart filled with love.

When we pray, we link ourselves with God's inexhaustible power and insight and the highest purpose of prayer is not to change our circumstances but to change us. There is an adage which says, pray with your eyes towards God, not towards problems. Playwright Margeret Gibb also rightly said that "We must move from asking God to take care of the things that are breaking our hearts, to praying about the things that are breaking His heart".

From my experience itself, I have found that it is impossible to be prayerful and pessimistic at the same time. When we sincerely pray, our attitude directs to the good and holy path. Optimism dominates pessimism, Goodwill dominates ill will, courage dominates fear, hope dominates doubt and peace dwells in our heart. When we pray, we link ourselves with God and become one with Him. With Him we have endless hope but without Him we'll certainly meet a hopeless end.

Prayer brings momentum in life. It lifts the heart above the challenges of life and gives it a view of God's resources of victory and hope. Prayer provides power, poise, peace, and purpose for a person's plans and pursuits. Time spent in prayer with God is never a wasted time. During prayer, amazing things start happening- direction, peace, love, insight and forgiveness burst onto the scene. Prayer may not change all things for us, but it sure changes us for all things. When you take one step towards God, He'll take more steps towards you then you could ever count. He moved to meet my needs, and He will move to meet yours if only you give place for Him in your heart during prayer.

Prayer shouldn't be our last resort, but our first response, for there are times when sincere prayer must be offered in order to accomplish something. And so as to achieve or accomplish something in life, the most powerful energy anyone can generate is "prayer energy". Prayer can make a profound difference in our world. But it is up to us to offer our prayers humbly and regularly. Let us always and everywhere raise our petitions and prayers to God that He may send his Holy Spirit from on high to strengthen us physically, mentally and spiritually so as to bring about positive change in our world.

Wish you all a fruitful prayer life. God bless you all.