Break Down the Walls

Scripture: Philippians 4.4-7; Luke 2.19; Luke 3.16


“Do you remember where I was when you helped me?” the man asked.

How could I forget? The man was in jail years ago. He was put there over allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor. His family had asked me to go see him. I visited him regularly for about a year. I know that year was hard on him. But in that year God did something in him. He came out a changed man.

I saw him recently and he thanked me profusely. It was almost embarrassing because, as I think back on that time, I can remember doing very little for him except praying. Certainly, I had no wise words for him on “how to endure being jail.” I certainly didn’t know. We just prayed together over the jail phones, across the plexiglass divider.

Just prayed. What difference does a prayer make? Does God really care whether we get words from him or not? Why wouldn’t he do the good thing anyway?

We have often heard that prayer does make a difference; for example, in the life of those facing surgery. There have been some studies done to suggest that this is true. So, it should not surprise you that a group of researchers with the Templeton Foundation decided to put that truism to the test. Dubbed “The Prayer Project”, these researchers studied a group of 1,800 heart by-pass surgery patients. These were divided into three groups: a group that were prayed for and told that it was happening; a group that were prayed for but that were told it was only a possibility; and a group that were told it was a possibility but no one was assigned to pray for them.

The study concluded that prayer made no positive effect in these patients.

So, should we quit praying? No, I say it again, no. Because you can’t study prayer scientifically. You can’t measure it, dissect it, or quantify it. When you try, it kind of vanishes, like a puff of smoke.

A prayer is an act of faith. It such a naked, solitary gesture, an offering up of words and thoughts and feelings in trust to an invisible God. That’s why it’s striking how bold and loud are the Apostle’s words concerning prayer in Philippians:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! . . .The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God.”

Be bold with your prayers is Paul’s advice. Don’t worry. Be confident. This brings to mind James admonition:

“Count it all joy, brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials. . .” (James 1,1)

Obviously, James and Paul are confident about their situations. Their faith is big. Why? Is it because their lives are going so well?

Umm, well, Paul is writing his letter from behind prison bars himself. James, I’m not sure how he fared at the time of this letter, but I know he was put to death by the priestly authorities in Jerusalem around A.D. 70.

The confidence of the Apostles is not in their circumstances of their lives, it’s in the God they trust.

“The Lord is near.”

If God is close, then He can hear us. He can help us. Don’t worry. Pray.

Jane Vennard