Pray Anyway

Prayer is an essential weapon used by spiritual warriors.

I frequently seek others to pray with me.

Sometimes when searching for someone to join me in prayer, all I get are answering machines. There have been times no one answered because they were at the mall, weeding the garden, preparing dinner, or preoccupied elsewhere. They promise to call me later, and most of them do; however, it seems I get no responses when desiring someone to pray with me at the time I need it.

Our heavenly Father never said that we must have someone to pray with. He knows the desires of our heart before we call on Him.

We have a direct line to Heaven. He has given us instructions on how to pray individually, and He has provided a model prayer for us as well (Matthew 6:6, 9–13). First Samuel 1 tells a beautiful story about Hannah, whose desire was to conceive and bear a child. God answered her prayer and granted her petition.

First Kings 17:21–24 reveals the story of how Elijah prayed as an individual. As a result of his prayer, he was granted divine intervention.

Acts 12:12–17 is another example, but it is a little different, for it describes a group of people praying, on behalf of Peter who was in prison.

Their prayers were answered, and God granted them favor as well, miraculously releasing Peter from prison. Whether we pray with or without others, we aren’t always granted the desires of our hearts. One thing we must remember is that God knows what is best for us. He knows the end from the beginning.

He is always available to us. We can pray kneeling, standing, sitting, or lying down. We can pray audibly or silently; it doesn’t matter.

As long as we exercise our faith and pray sincerely, God will answer our prayers. Hymn writer Joseph Scriven wrote that we often forfeit peace and bear needless pain, “all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”* If no one is available to pray with you today, pray anyway. God hears your prayer.

Cora A. Walker