Praying In Sync

How Our Prayers Move God’s Hand

By Jonathan Graf

 

Steve was a new believer who attended our singles ministry at Immanuel Alliance Church in Mechanicsburg, PA. Steve’s wife had recently left him, and due to some medical issues and medication he was taking that impaired his senses, he had lost his job as a truck driver. He was clearly in need of prayer.

During prayer time at our Thursday night Bible study, I began to pray aloud for Steve. My prayer started out normal. I simply lifted up Steve’s needs to the Lord. To be honest, I wasn’t particularly close to Steve, so my prayers were not born out of deep love or concern. Rather, I thought to myself, Uh oh, someone better pray for Steve’s need.

Sometime during the prayer, passion took over.

It was decades ago now, so I don’t remember any specifics of what I prayed. But because it was such a profound and rare experience for me, I can remember clearly what I was thinking and feeling throughout the prayer.

I recall that my spirit got so caught up in praying for Steve that I didn’t even know what I was praying. I remember a strange but pleasant sensation within my body. My mind was so riveted on the prayer that I felt like I was staring at the situation and couldn’t pull away. I remember others pitching in comments of agreement as I prayed. About halfway through my prayer, an unusual thought entered my head: I’m not praying; the Holy Spirit is praying within me.

 

Releasing God’s Will

Our lead theme article in this issue describes the first purpose of prayer as relationship with the Lord. I describe the second major purpose for prayer this way: Prayer releases God’s will on earth. While I cannot explain how it works, somehow, in God’s sovereign plan, He has chosen to accomplish certain aspects of His will only if people pray.

Some believers cringe at this teaching. “What do you mean prayer releases God’s will?” they say. “God’s will is God’s will. He’s going to do it whether we pray or not.”

But Scripture, history, and our experience all tell us otherwise. I once had a good Calvinist pastor friend explain what happens using this illustration:

Imagine your hand opening represents God’s will being released. And the muscles and tendons of your arm are your prayers. But God is the brain. So, what is opening your hand? God is! When we pray, God takes those prayers and moves the “muscles and tendons” to release His will! It is one of the marvelous ways God uses us to move and shape His Kingdom on earth and thus allows us to partner with Him. We are not telling God what to do, we are getting in sync with what God desires to do—His will—and praying that.

Support from Scripture

Look at Elijah. James tells us, “Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops” (James 5:17–18).

In 1 Kings 17 and 18, we read the background story of these two verses. God apparently put in Elijah’s heart to pray that it wouldn’t rain. The prophet went to King Ahab and declared it wouldn’t rain for three years—and it didn’t. “After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: ‘Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land’” (1 Kings 18:1).

What follows is the incredible showdown between Elijah and the true God and the false prophets of Baal. Following a decisive victory, Elijah said to the king, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain” (18:41). Then Scripture tells us that Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground, and put his face between his knees (signifying intense prayer).

 

“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.

“There is nothing there,” he said.

Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”

The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”

Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, [and] a heavy rain started falling. . . (1 Kings 18:42–45).

 

Did you notice the sequence? God planted a thought in Elijah—pray for no rain—then His will was released. He sent word again: I’m going to send rain. Yet, somehow Elijah knew to pray fervently for it to happen. Again, God’s will was released.

Many spiritual giants of the past firmly believed this principle. John Wesley once said, “God does nothing on the earth save in answer to believing prayer.” E.M. Bounds commented, “The prayers of God’s saints are the capital stock in heaven by which Christ carries on His great work upon earth.”

 

Two Purposes in Sync

My point? If you want to grow in your personal prayer life, then I encourage you to pay attention to both purposes of prayer when you pray—prayer as relationship and intimacy, and prayer that releases God’s will. Yes, we pray to develop our relationship with God, but we also release God’s will in our sphere of influence as we pray what is on His heart for people and situations around us.

How do the two work together? John 15: 1–7 shows us:

 

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

 

Jesus’ words in John 15:7 reveal a powerful promise. But it clearly has conditions. We see those in verses 1–6. Our primary purpose as believers, as followers of Jesus, is for our lives to bear fruit. To do that, we need to stay connected to the Vine (Jesus) and draw our sustenance from Him. We take in His Word (Bible) and stay in relationship with Him through prayer.

As we grow in relationship with God, our hearts more and more desire His will over our desires. So, when I pray over a situation—a personal need or something in our sphere of influence—if I am connected to Jesus and I know I am supposed to bear fruit as Hs follower, rather than pray the obvious answer, I am going to think before I pray. “What’s the fruit-bearing thing in this situation? How might God want to grow His Kingdom through it? What is the Holy Spirit telling me to pray?”

When we ask these questions, we start to see the truth of verse 7: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

That makes all the difference.

JONATHAN GRAF is the president of Church Prayer Leaders Network and the publisher of PrayerShop Publishing. He has authored multiple books on prayer, including The Power of Personal Prayer, from which this article is adapted.