Prayer, Does it make any difference?

This is actually the title of a book by Phillip Yancy but I wonder what you believe about prayer.

Do you feel like you are just giving your "wish list" to an unapproachable God somewhere "out there" who will grant your wishes if :a) you are good enough b) He feels like it c) He isn't listening so there is no point in praying ?

Or do you know the wonderful privilege we have to "approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" Hebrews 4:16

Yancy says that we think about prayer in the wrong direction ." We start downstream with our own concerns and bring them to God. We inform God, as if God did not already know. We plead with God, as if hoping to change God's mind and overcome divine reluctance. Instead, we should start upstream where the flow begins. When we shift direction, we realize that God already cares about our concerns more than we do. Grace, like water, descends to the lowest part. Streams of mercy flow. We begin with God, who bears primary responsibility for what happens on earth, and ask what part we can play in God's work on earth."

"Prayer is the act of seeing reality from God's point of view"

"To pray is to walk in the full light of God, and to say simply, without holding back, 'I am human, and You are God'"

Don't worry. I am not going to quote the entire book, but I do recommend reading it.

Now to some things I have learned about prayer:

Prayer is an on going conversation, not a five minute "here is what I need /want God and here is the way I want you to do it"

Praying for others, even those you may have never met in person , creates an unexplainable and everlasting bond with the one you are praying for and the ones you are praying with.

Relationships need time and communication to deepen. We can't experience the fullness of God if we only spend 5 minutes "talking" to Him before our head hits the pillow each night.

Prayer, Does it make any difference? ABSOLUTELY