Does Prayer REALLY Change Things?

Native American Prayer:

O Great Spirit,
Whose Voice I Hear in the Winds,
And whose breath gives life to all the World,
hear me! I am small and weak, I need
Your strength and Wisdom.


I have a little plaque with the quote, "prayer changes things" posted in my reading room. I look at it several times a day as I sit, read, reflect, write, pray, play with Rex, rest, or chit chat with friends or family. It's an affirmation for me, I repeat it over and over again, as I do many affirmations in a day, and as I do so I begin to believe it. It's not that I have ever really wondered, I know that prayer DOES change things, but I cannot deny that I have sometimes wondered what, how, and when my prayers would be answered. My deepest, soulful, intense, heartfelt prayer to God above was that He would, or could, spare my daughter, spare her the diagnosis, the treatments, the pain, the fatigue, the side effects, the loss of mobility, spare her life, Oh, dear God, that above all, please spare her life and cure her and make her whole again. It was not to be. At least not from this perspective. She was never to be whole again, at least not in the physical sense.

I begged God to let it be me, I went to Him on bended knee, asking and pleading, wanting Him to make sense of this travesty, this unforeseen part of life, this uncharted course. I prayed so hard that even when I didn't know what to say or how to say it, I prayed, I prayed not with words but with my heart. And I knew God was listening, and even crying with me.

Oh yes, I have prayed many times before. Haven't we all? I have prayed for miracles, for healing, for finances, for state of mind, for new jobs, for safe travels, for peace, for just about everything. And over the course of my spiritual growth, my prayers have changed. They are so much more purposeful, more meaningful, more intense, more deeply personal, and as a result, my private relationship with God above has become my most treasured gift of all. And all through tragedy! Not through the good times, not through the days that flourished, not through the happier times. Those I sort of just took for granted! I would praise God for those blessings, but quickly my prayer would turn to what I felt I needed, wanted, desired, struggled with, all the while not really knowing that God already knew, and was providing all along.

So what happened through Allison's diagnosis, eleven weeks living through cancer, and passage, was that prayers changed. Not only did prayer REALLY change things, my words changed, my own desires were put into the hands of a loving God who truly knew more than I did about what was best. So, I went from begging for her life, to trusting, allowing Him to take control (cancer has a way of teaching you that), to asking His will be done, to allow us time together that would bring meaning and comfort, to alleviate her suffering, and to bring blessing to the brokenness. And finally, when I let go and surrendered, and took myself out of the equation, there it was, the sweet and simple answer to prayer, there all along, revealed at just the time I needed to see it. God had shown me, once again, that prayer REALLY does change things.

It changes things in a big way! And no, the answers are seldom what we hope for, beg for, plead and cry for. They are HIS answers and how easy to trust when all is going well, when the family is well and healthy, when everyone gets to sit down to family dinners, when a new home is built, when there's money in the bank, when there is no dark cloud or missing piece to the puzzle, when all is right with the world. So easy to trust then! Not so easy, until God has you right where He had intended all along, on your knees, coming to know Him in a way that you may never had known, had the trial and tribulations not come.

I cannot say the outcome is different, and I grapple with destiny and what God has planned. I know He didn't infuse cancer into our world, cause the murders and abductions, suicides and devastation, poverty and despair. He doesn't impose what man does to himself, but what God does do, is offer us the opportunity to take that closer walk with Him, come to know Him and accept His gifts of grace and mercy, for even in the darkest, deepest hour, in prayer we can walk away knowing and trusting He is giving us His love and guidance. It doesn't come over night, it doesn't come easily, and it certainly doesn't come without a price. But it comes, as we center ourselves, come to know our own soul within, and look to Him for the answers.

When we hear of others asking for prayer for loved ones or self, or when we need it ourselves, and we respond with "our thoughts and prayers are with you", I take a second look to my soul and ask myself what does that mean? Does that mean that my thought or my prayer is going to change the outcome? Will this person be healed or find their miracle just because I took time to pray? My journey has shown me a resounding YES. God has shown me what a true miracle looks like, right here in the bosom of my being. True, it was not the miracle I dreamed of, prayed for, tried to make a deal for...but it is there. And yes, prayer REALLY does change things, if nothing else, but ourselves.

Everything changes, nothing is lost.

(Dedicated today to my friend Kristie, with love, hope and prayers)