Why bother praying?

Seeking to be an authentic community of disciples, becoming more like Jesus - walking in step with God, alongside each other and seeing lives transformed

Our Core Values: Loving, Welcoming, Missional, Servant-hearted, Biblical, Spirit-led and Prayerful.

At CBC our Vision helps us to understand where we are headed, and our seven Core Values shape everything that we do and say.


Today is the last in our series of Friday posts looking in more detail at each element of our Vision and Values. If you missed any of the series then click on the links above or to see the whole series at once use the Labels at the bottom of the page.

Today we're looking at what it means to be a prayerful community. As I have said before these values are not listed in any order of importance which may suggest that prayer is the least, or the most, important of our seven core values - but prayer is vital - in that without it we can't do anything.

Now, clearly that last statement is not true. There are plenty of people who do a lot of things without giving any time to prayer. And many of them will be successful at what they do. But there will be at least two reasons for this.

First, God is a gracious God who sometimes will work through us in spite of our efforts to do things in our strength. But we should not presume on this. Being humble and prayerful acknowledges that we can't do things in our strength without God; it acknowledges that we don't know best and that we need to listen to God for his guidance and wisdom; it acknowledges that all that we are and all that we have has come from God. We live with a constant battle against self and pride and a lack of prayer often reflects an attitude of self-reliance.

The second reason is to do with the way that we measure success. Being biblical requires us to see things within the overarching, big picture that spans from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22; to see things in terms of the Kingdom of God. Often we can fall into the trap of seeing things as successful because we're measuring them with the wrong measure. So if we want to ensure that what we do has eternal and kingdom value and consequences then prayer is vital.

Why do many of us find prayer so hard? I guess we've already touched on one answer to this question - we're proud and self-reliant. Another answer to this question is that prayer doesn't work. Prayer doesn't make a difference. I'm sure we've all been in situations where we've prayed for something to happen - someone to recover from a serious illness, to find work after a prolonged period of unemployment etc - and either nothing has happened or the situation has actually got worse. So what's the point in praying?

I guess if our understanding of prayer is - we ask God for something, God does it - then I'd have to agree: prayer doesn't work, so what's the point.

But is that what prayer really is? Certainly asking God for things is a part of prayer and is biblical. And there are those within CBC who can witness to the fact that sometimes God does answer our prayers in a supernatural and miraculous way. But prayer is much more than that. It is also about deliberately putting yourself in a place where you invite God to show you his perspective, to remind you of that big picture, to remind you of truths that sometimes we forget. I'm sure there will be a quote somewhere, by someone, along the lines of prayer not always changing the situation we're praying about, but changing us within the situation. Giving us peace or hope or strength or forgiveness or love in a situation where without God we would be anxious, despairing, tired, bitter or full of anger and hate and revenge...

So part of what it means to be prayerful as a church involves acknowledging that we can't do anything of true value without God. Acknowledging that we rely on God's wisdom and guidance and not on our own good ideas and abilities. It is also a commitment to seek God's perspective and to see the big picture. And this all means time - spending time, either as individuals, or pairs, or small groups, or as a whole church in prayer - talking to God and creating the space to listen to God too.