Do your prayers actually make a difference? Really, do circumstances actually change because of your requests made to God?

God knows everything, right? He has seen the end from the beginning and everything he plans will come to pass without a single thing able to stop him. What he wills to happen will happen.

So, why should we even pray? What good is it?

I’ve wrestled with this question a lot. Why would Philippians 4:6 tell us to “pray about everything”, yet God says in Isaiah 46:10, “I can tell you the future before it happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.” I struggle to understand the balance of this partnership between my prayers and God’s unshakable plans. Does me praying about it really change anything?

I turn to God’s word, and while I don’t understand it, I find my answers. Answers that have always been there for me to find if I would seek them. Answers that don’t make it all make sense in my human mind, but answers that prove my prayers matter, and so do yours.

God’s answers to my questions came in 2 Old Testament true stories.

Proof that your prayers matter #1: Numbers 14

God’s people have been ungrateful and disobedient in the wilderness. They’re blaming God for the things they don’t like. They’re complaining about miraculous provision they’ve grown tired of. They’re seeking a God they can see by building a golden calf idol and worshiping it. And finally, God has had enough and he says to Moses in verse 12, “I will disown them and destroy them.”

God’s plan was revealed. Destroy them all. But Moses pleads with God for the people. He asks God to spare them instead of destroy them. And he does 2 very important things in his prayer.

1.  Moses acknowledges the truth of who God is.  He speaks God's own words in prayer.  Verse 17, "Please, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed.  For you said, 'The Lord is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion.'"

2.  Moses intercedes and prays for their forgiveness.  Verse 19, "In keeping with your magnificent, unfailing love, please pardon the sins of this people."  Notice, Moses isn't making excuses for the people.  They have been wrong, really wrong.  But Moses is pleading to God based on who GOD IS.

And here’s what happens as a result of Moses’ prayer: Verse 20, “Then the Lord said, ‘I will pardon them as you have requested.'”

God did not destroy them as he had planned. He did not disown them. He sustained them for the rest of their lives in the wilderness. They forfeited his promise of their Promised Land, but God’s plan to destroy them changed when Moses prayed.

Moses’ prayer mattered, and it mattered on a large scale. There were over 600,000 men in the wilderness who were 20 years old or older. Doing the math, that means with women and children, there were somewhere between 2 and 3 million people that were forgiven, saved and sustained because of one man’s prayer.

I know you’re only one person, but you are one person that matters on a grand scale. Within you are prayers that can change the lives of more people than you can possibly imagine. Will you pray for them?

Will you pray for them, not because of who you are or who they are, but because of who God is. Because God is gracious, he is kind, he is patient. Because God doesn’t want anyone to perish, but he wants everyone to come to a place of being made right again with him. (2 Peter 3:9). Because God promises to take everything intended for harm and use it for good. Because God hears you and he truly does bend down to respond to your requests.

What could you possibly pray for them? You could pray that God would forgive them.

Right now, think of someone who is really WRONG. They aren’t living right. They aren’t treating others right. They are on the wrong path and the consequences to their choices could be absolutely disastrous. Would you humbly intercede for them? Would you ask God to forgive them?

I have someone in my life that is actively really hurting me and a few others. Whew, it’s just ugly and painful and the invitation to be bitter and lash out in hurt is always present. I can’t change them and I can’t fix the mess they are causing. And honestly, on most days I don’t even know how else to pray for them.

A few months ago, a precious soul in Texas named Stephanie, reached out to me. She doesn’t know the specifics of my situation, but she said she felt prompted by God to share her family story with me. The moral of the story she shared was, “Ask God to forgive them.”

So, that’s exactly what I started doing. I’ve been asking God to forgive them. I can see the trajectory of the path they’re on and it terrifies me for them. The seeds they are sowing will reap a harvest of destruction. While I can’t save them from it, I can ask God to forgive them for it.

My daily prayers are an intercession for them. What is happening as a result? Well I have no idea. What is God saving them from? What 17th chances is God offering? What pardon is being offered? I really don’t know. I just know what God is doing in my heart and it’s beautiful. There’s an unspeakable peace within me that I haven’t felt in a very long time.

Lord, please forgive them.

Isn’t that what Jesus himself prayed. On the cross, Jesus says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Those are some powerful words … try praying them! Lord, that girl just doesn’t know what she’s doing right now, please forgive her. What will God do? Well he may just cancel some planned destruction. He may just offer another chance. He may just intervene in the earned consequences and cover them with undeserved grace.

Gosh, I’ve been really wrong before. I’ve hurt others before. I’ve been the jackwagon in someone’s day. I’ve been unfair. I’ve caused pain. What if they prayed for God to just forgive me, and for that reason I was spared from destruction my actions had earned, and instead I received God’s grace. Whew, I’m on my face with that one!

Proof that your prayers matter #2: Isaiah 38

Hezekiah was the King of Judah. He was a good man who always did the right thing. No one could find fault in him. He remained faithful to the Lord in everything and he carefully obeyed God. Scripture says because of this, the Lord was with him and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did. (2 Kings 18:7) But then, at 39 years old, Hezekiah becomes deathly ill. The prophet Isaiah is sent to him with a message from the Lord and says in verse 1, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Set your affairs in order for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.'”

What?!!!!! You know, sometimes lives are cut short and we just can’t explain why. You do understand this life coming to an end and graduating to an eternity in paradise with our Savior is not bad, right? But death is still death. It’s hard. Our limited human minds only know what is here and now, so we hold on. God was not punishing Hezekiah with death. In God’s plan, it was his time.

But, then something changed. When Hezekiah heard this news that he was going to die from this illness, he turned to God and he prayed. He wanted to live. And Hezekiah’s prayer mattered. God’s plan changed.

Verses 4 & 5, “This message came to Isaiah from the Lord, ‘Go back to Hezekiah and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will add 15 years to your life.”

All indications are, without Hezekiah’s prayer to God, he would have died, but instead, he lived another 15 years.

I’ve experienced a very similar experience. One night about 20 years ago, I woke up to a very real presence in my bedroom. The only way I can describe it was a warm light and an extended hand that told me it was time to go. But, I didn’t want to go. I wanted to live. I had a toddler and a husband I very much wanted to be with. As I turned away, the presence was gone. I was suddenly filled with fear that I had disobeyed God by turning away. My wise husband said, “Honey, I think God gave you a choice and you chose life. He’s given you more time.”

Y’all want to know where my joy comes from? You want to know this source of energy and overflowing giddiness that oozes from my pores? That’s it. I’ve been given more time to live! This is an unearned gift. I asked God for it and he actually gave it to me!!!!!

After you’ve humbly asked for forgiveness, you can boldly bring your requests to God. Will it change his plan? Well, I think sometimes he might just see how your request can fit perfectly within the big picture and he can honor your prayers with a yes.

So, do your prayers actually make a difference? Really, do circumstances actually change because of your requests made to God? We have proof that one person’s prayer can matter for one life, and it can matter for millions.

Faith requires us to pray when we don’t know and trust what we can’t see. Then faith requires us to accept what happens after we’ve prayed, trusting God heard and God always responds with nothing but his best.

Because we have showed up today to seek, we have our answers. Answers that maybe still don’t make completely perfect sense to our limited minds, but answers that prove my prayers do matter, and so do yours.

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