What's Astonishing About Prayer

Before diving in, we’d love to invite you to walk through our five-day devotional, Astonishing Prayer. This devotional explores how God empowers us to forgive the impossible through the power of the gospel. You can start the journey here.

—

Take a moment to read Acts 4:23-31.

When we pick up this text, Jesus had already ascended into heaven, Pentecost had happened, and Peter and John had just healed a man who could not walk through the power of the Holy Spirit. After healing the man, they were arrested and told that they could not continue to preach the message they were preaching: that this man was healed because of God.

When you're in a dangerous situation or facing uncertain circumstances, and you pray to God, is it to change your circumstances or for boldness to speak about Jesus in the middle of it?

If we had to guess, it would be the former. It's our natural instinct to want to get out of a bad situation—FAST. But when we read Acts 4:23-31, we see that Peter and John were jailed for proclaiming the name of Jesus, then they prayed for boldness instead of an escape route, the room shook, and they were later released.

This was an example of astonishing prayer. What if we changed the way that we pray?

Instead of asking God to change our circumstances, what if we asked him to use us in the midst of our circumstances and chose to trust Him and His pre-ordained plan above all else, even our comfort?

Prayer really is astonishing, and here is why:

1. Prayer allows us to communicate with our creator.

Acts 4:24 notes that the God they were speaking to was the same one who created everything, and often, there is a disconnect here for us.

The God we read about in Malachi 1:6, Hebrews 13:8, Psalm 102:27, and Isaiah 40:8 is the same God we see and know today.

When we pray, we connect with God by prioritizing our time, dwelling on His power and love and what He's doing in our lives, and inviting Him into our minds, thoughts, concerns, and worries.

We do this fully believing that He is not only listening, but that He cares and wants to take action as a result.

2. Prayer saves lives.

When we hear about the story of a heroic 17-year-old boy who helped save the lives of many people, we are encouraged to pray the same way, as if lives are depending on our prayers.

In our talk about astonishing courage, we saw that courage is enduring in the face of fear. To be bold, we are now acting in the face of risk. It's a complete lack of hesitation with the goal of saving lives.

We interact and communicate with so many different people every day—friends, family members, co-workers, or complete strangers. Why do we hesitate to pray for them? Why do we hesitate to tell others about Jesus when we know what’s at stake?

Though we may not be facing the same risks as the disciples, we fear relationships changing, being alienated, or maybe even judgment. But we must fear people not being saved more than we fear men's opinions, and we must not hesitate.

3. Prayer does and changes things that nothing else can do or change.

Kids are often told they are helpless, that they're too small and too young to change anything. But through the power of prayer, they have the opportunity to change everything.

Read James 5:13-20.

There is power in prayer, and even the smallest of children can be a witness to a room shaking because of a prayer they prayed.

We must not grow cynical. Prayer can fix marriages, change diagnoses, mend friendships, and heal the sick. Don't let anyone tell you that your prayers are not enough. The second we say or believe that prayer is not enough is the same second we downplay just how astonishing our God is.

So, let's pray for three things:

1. That we would be given opportunities to pray and be witnesses to others.

2. That we would pray a different type of prayer—one that wouldn't require our circumstances to change, but that encourages God to do the work in the middle of our circumstances.

3. That those who have nothing else but prayer would have the boldness to hope.