Effectiveness of Prayer
Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
Luke 11:1-4
1 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He had finished,
one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his
disciples.” 2 And 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 And forgive us our
sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us
into temptation.’”
People pray for all kinds of things. An area to examine is prayers for material items,
such as money, a car, a house, etc. God does not operate in the material world, rather
God works in the spiritual world. Therefore, prayers for material objects are not
effective prayers and prayers that will not be answered. There are times when a person
prays for a material event or object and that event occurs. Is it God who intervened, or
did the prayer change the person? Since prayer changes us and not God, it seems logical
to say that the prayer changed the person. Another example is prayer for a new job.
Since God does not work in the material world, he cannot help a person to find a new
job. The prayer changes the person and makes the person more receptive to an
employment opportunity that was once missed, or perhaps gives the person more
confidence for the next job interview.
God has given people the ability to make decisions and to determine how they will live
in the material world. The Torah is the guidebook of life, and Jesus’s interpretations of
the Torah are the ultimate guide to pleasing God. But today, many individuals rely on
the power of prayer in areas where prayer will not make a difference. It can become an
easy crutch and a way to place blame on God, instead of oneself, when the prayer is not
answered. The church’s theological response is that if the prayer is not answered, then
God did not want it to happen. Perhaps the answer should be an exploration of what
the prayer was asking for and determining whether it is a prayer that God could answer.
For example, a church congregation was determining whether to build an addition
which would be used as a community and recreation center. So, as all good churches
do, the congregation entered into prayer. God does not operate in the material world.
Therefore, God would not answer this prayer. However, 85% of the congregation
believed that God said build the building and 15% insisted that God was saying no.
Who was hearing God correctly?
Where do you find the answer to material prayers if not from God? The answer is in
the Scripture. Should the church build the addition? The Scripture says that the church
is to make disciples for Jesus Christ. Therefore, the question should be “does the
addition help the church to make disciples for Jesus Christ?” In this case, the answer
was “yes.” Therefore, the building was built. Prayer was not the answer. Bible study was
the way to get the answer to the question. The answer was found in the Word of God.
Material prayers should not be offered, but rather the Scripture must be used for the
answer.
If a materialistic prayer can be offered as a spiritual prayer, then God might answer it.
For example, I had a house to sell when I entered Christ’s ministry. 9/11/2001 occurred
and the housing market ground to a halt. I prayed to God to help me sell the house. I
did not have the income after leaving my full-time business job to attend Seminary and
could not afford the house. Three months passed and nothing happened. Then I turned
the prayer from “God, sell the House” to “God, send me a family who can learn about
you as I learned about you in this house.” Within two weeks, the house was sold to a
couple who was starting a family. The material object was the result, but for God, it was
a spiritual-oriented prayer that was answered.
There are times when prayers for healing seem to have little to no effect. Did God
ignore the prayers? There are many answers to this question. The answer could be as
simple as God answering a healing prayer. However, if the person is beyond physical
healing, it could be better for God to end the person’s suffering. For example, a stage
five cancer could be difficult for the body to heal. Prayer for healing gives a boost to
the immune system. But is that boost enough to heal the person. Probably not at the
final stage of cancer. Our physical body can heal itself. But there are body breakdowns
that the body cannot heal.
Accepted prayer is converted into spiritual energy and is then returned through the
Holy Spirit back to the people. It is a cycle that God created when the universe was
established. To fully understand God’s ways, it is important to understand that this cycle
exists and that one should take full advantage of it. Effective prayers are prayers for
spiritual activity or bodily healing. The spiritual energy increases as the number of
individuals offer the same prayer. Jesus asked us to be in worship as a community
because when two or more pray together it magnifies the spiritual energy that God will
return. Furthermore, the individual who is a recipient of the prayer will feel the Holy
Spirit when the person also prays for the same result.
