The Fallacy Sessions: Prayer Does Nothing

Why Pray?

Assuming you’re a Christian (and if you’re not, please let me know – I’d love to talk with you about it!), you’ve probably heard that prayer is important. Yet there are so many other things in our lives, and sitting down in stillness and silence is tough. So I ask, is prayer worth it? And does it do anything?

In September, I discussed unanswered prayer and reminded us that everything happens according to His will. If you’d like to check out that post, here’s the link: The Fallacy Sessions: God Doesn’t Care. However, there’s more to prayer than what I discussed there. Prayer is our most important weapon as a Christian, and for many, our most under-utilized.

God wants to hear from us. He cares about us, and He longs for us to love Him too. As a quote by Oswald Chambers goes, “Don’t forget to pray today, because God didn’t forget to wake you up this morning.”

Here are just five of the innumerable advantages of prayer.

1. Prayer helps us through difficult times.

I’ll admit that this Fall hasn’t been an easy season. I’ve had to deal with my fair share of rough stuff, pneumonia being the least of my worries. But that’s for another post. The point is, when things were hard and I was struggling, Jesus was there for me. I could still pray, and believe me, it helped a lot. As Mother Teresa said, “Prayer is the mortar that holds our house together.”

Without prayer, I would never have made it through my difficult season. Often we’re tempted only to thank God when things are good, but it’s also important to thank God when things are hard. To thank Him for all the good in my life (despite hard times), and thank Him that through His power I can overcome.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6, NIV).

2. Prayer helps us overcome temptation.

Temptation is one of the devil’s most dastardly and devious devices. There are countless things in this world that he can tempt us with, and one way or another, he makes us feel ashamed. Either we’re angry with ourselves for giving in to temptation, or we feel guilty for being tempted in the first place.

The solution? Pray. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus told His disciples, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41b, NIV). Let me tell you, the flesh is pretty weak. We humans love following the good old “path of least resistance.” Except Jesus doesn’t call us down Easy Street. He calls us to take the harder (but ultimately more fulfilling) Narrow Path.

Next time you face temptation, why not give prayer a shot? I’m working to do the same, because I’d love to grow my self-control and willingness to follow Jesus’ call, not the devil’s.

3. Prayer draws us closer to God.

Prayer is, no joke, like talking to God. It’s our way of communicating with Him. Now I know it can be uncomfortable at times, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If you find it less awkward to type out your prayers in a text message, go for it. You’re still talking to God.

Prayer is the equivalent of spending time with your best friend. The more time you spend together, the closer you get. Now, of course, prayer isn’t a one-way relationship. This is why we also need to listen in prayer. It takes practice, but if you listen in the silence, God will speak back to you. And He says some awesome stuff.

As Paul said, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Let me say it again: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Talk about high expectations. Then again, doesn’t God deserve our best?

4. Prayer is the foundation.

Perhaps you’ve heard of a man named David Wilkerson. He founded a worldwide program known as Teen Challenge. You want to know how it happened? It was actually due to prayer. One day Wilkerson thought, “How much TV do I watch every night? Probably close to 2 hours. What if I instead used that time to pray?” And so he did. As a result, a worldwide addiction recovery program was born. In the last year alone 11,000 people have had their lives changed due to David Wilkerson’s decision.

Or take Ray Duerksen. After years of pastoring his church, he received a call from God to start a program that would train and equip pastors worldwide. A daunting task, to say the least. But Duerksen was committed, and through much prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit, Church Renewal International was founded. As of 2024, over 4000 pastors are enrolled in the program.

These are just two examples of what happens when ordinary people pray and listen to the Lord’s call. What is God calling you to do? He has a great plan for all of us, and prayer is always at the heart of that plan.

5. Prayer makes a difference.

James 5:16 (NIV) declares, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Jesus would frequently spend hours in prayer. While I haven’t gotten there yet, it’s obvious that it made a big difference, so it’s probably worth trying.

My pastor once said that if you look at any great Christian movement in history, you’ll find prayer at the center. Not necessarily highly trained people, not necessarily the most cutting-edge equipment, but prayer.

One of Ray Duerksen’s most powerful sayings is this: “Prayer isn’t everything, but everything should come out of prayer.” Prayer without works will not accomplish God’s grand purpose, but everything should be rooted in it nonetheless.

What now?

The simple answer: Pray. It takes practice, but the benefits are beyond anything you’ll imagine. You don’t have to start big. Just sit down and tell God what’s on your mind. Good, bad, it doesn’t matter to Him. It will seem strange at first, but once you get used to it, you’ll begin to experience His peace. You can ask Him, “God, what do you want to say to me today?” Then listen.

As F.B. Meyer said, “The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.” It’s a fallacy to believe that prayer doesn’t matter. Everything we do should come out of prayer. Through it, God reveals His will and guides our steps. Do you think I wrote this 15-part Fallacy series on my own strength? Do you think the ideas came from me? Sorry if you thought that, but they didn’t. It was only by the power of prayer that I could do this, and I’m so grateful to God for how it all turned out.

So pray. If you need help figuring out where to start, talk to a pastor or youth leader. If you have questions about this post, please leave a comment or reach out to me. Prayer works guys, but to see its results, you have to believe that what you ask for is possible. Do you believe?

Only through prayer is WLF possible. Thank you for joining me on this rollercoaster of a series, and stay tuned for next week’s year-end recap. If you have any thoughts about the series as a whole or have a topic you’d like me to cover, just let me know. And if you’re willing to pray for me as I continue to fulfill the call God has placed on my life, I’d very much appreciate it.

For as Paul said in Ephesians 6:18…

 “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.”