Prayer - does it work?

Some people think that prayer is a bit like a magic spell in that all you need to do is say the magic words and then the great genie in the sky must do whatever you have asked. If this is what you think prayer is and this is your definition as to does prayer work then the answer has to be prayer does not work in this way at all!

Prayer is about talking to God and having a friendship with him - a friendship that does involve asking for things but also involves thanking him, praising him, worshiping him and saying sorry to him. God is not a genie that must obey our every wish - we have no rights to demand things from him but he has very generously given us things as a gift!

God allows us to talk to him even though we are sinful creatures - but more than that he wants us to talk to him, he wants us to share our lives and experiences with him and he wants to help us in the way that is best for us. Prayer is about us living our daily lives with him and showing him that we know that he is there and can help and assist us with the things that we come across in life.

When we pray to God the Bible tells us that he hears us and that he knows what is best for us. Do we give a child everything they ask for, when we can see a better way for them or a better experience for them? No, and neither does God because he can always see the big picture and he always knows what is best for us on our journey through life. Sometimes days, weeks, months later we can see why the thing we wanted wasn't best for us - other times we need to, "walk by faith and not by sight", trusting that God knows best even if we can't actually see it for ourselves yet.

The Bible explains that God wants us to present our requests to him, he wants us to express our needs and wants, our sadness and joy. God wants us to know him as our loving heavenly father who loves us so much that he gave his most precious son to suffer and die for us so that we could have this friendship with him.

Does prayer work? Yes, God hears it always and answers it in a way that is best for us - what could be better than that?