Does It Even Matter?

When we ask does prayer matter, what are we really asking?  Does God matter?  Is there really a God?  Wouldn’t it just happen anyway?

But are we really asking Do I matter?  Do I matter to God? 

The need to pray is such a natural reaction, a spiritual underpinning in every one of us, in whatever tradition we have been raised.  “O God!” are the first words that are spoken into disaster, even by those who deny His existence.

Help! is a crying out translated into every language on earth.

Only in Christ is there a response.  Not do this or do that.  Or a condemning you deserved it, or a turning away, or silence.

But always, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11. 28

And when we do, something happens.  It may or may not become visible to us right away.  Circumstances may or may not change.  God doesn’t change, but we do.

God doesn’t need to show up, but we do.  Before Him.

God gave us His Word.  He gave us prayer as a means to talk, to walk, to listen, to respond, to know that He is God.

When we pray to God, that which we pray matters a lot, even that we pray matters a lot, more than we can imagine.  God does not just supernaturally intervene.  He already has.  What does it take for us to realize that He even cares?  Well, He gave His life for us.

Would the answer have happened anyway?  But if we had not prayed and sought Him, we would have missed God’s glory in it entirely.  Because praying and His response magnifies His name, so that all the world may know.  Even us.

The adversary’s voice always says, prayer doesn’t matter.

But it matters more than we can know.  Not just when we see a glittery answer, but maybe even more so when we don’t.  His Presence is right here, even in what appears as His absence, that still small voice drawing us even closer to Him in unexpected ways and unlikely places.

In our desperation, we cry out what can I do?  We realize our overwhelming poverty before it.  And God whispers, Pray.

Anxiety is our desperate realization that we are not in control, that we cannot do life alone.  Praying is our response.

God does not just passively listen, but He unfolds, fills out, leads, completes His mighty work in ways we cannot even imagine.

Praying matters a lot.  A lot more than what we see is at stake.  God is not about to abandon us now, even when the road seems endless, or we have to double back because of a dead end, even in the wilderness when it appears useless and no one cares.  That is what faithfulness is all about.  Faithful in words and deeds.  Faithful in prayer. 

His strength helps us not just endure in this broken world, but to trust Him more.

On the day I called, You answered me, my strength of soul You increased.  Psalm 138.3

When we ask does prayer matter, are we really asking does God care about me?  Am I loved?  The cry of every human heart.

And God replies throughout His Word:  For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand.  It is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the One who helps you.”  Isaiah 41. 13

Come to Me.