Possibilities of Prayer

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 
 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:24-26) 

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him (I John 5:14) 

“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:19-20) 

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:12-14)


        This is a subject I find hard to discuss: the possibilities of prayer. Scripture makes it plain that if we’re asking in accordance with God’s will, He will give us what we ask. There are other stipulations elsewhere: asking in faith is the big one. Scripture and history are filled with examples like Elijah and George Mueller. And then there’s me. Quite probably, and then there’s you, too. How do we explain the millions of times God has not done as His children have asked? What do we do about it?
          The first answer that comes to mind is the answer given by three Jewish men to their pagan king. (Daniel 3:17-18) Whether God give us what we want or not, live or die, we will continue to be faithful to Him.
          The second answer is that God is God. If we could require Him to give us everything we want, He would not be God, we would.
           The third answer is to remember that God loves us and wants what is best for us. I know I have gained more through not getting things I wanted than I could have by getting them. We have a limited view of what is best for us.
          The fourth answer relates to the poverty of our wants, and the wealth of our fears, doubts, pride and greed. It is not that we are not worthy of the things we ask, but that they are not worthy of us.
         A fifth answer involves our not understanding what we want. Some people pray for a cure for cancer. Cancer is not A disease. At the very least, it’s many diseases. I think it’s a symptom of diseases and malfunctions. In one sense, there can be no “A cure.” There must be many cures. If we pray for A cure, we are asking for a logical contradiction. Asking for a cure or a healing for someone who has cancer or for a particular type of cancer is a different matter.
          Therefore, what are the possibilities of prayer? I don’t think we know. Oh, we know what God did through prayers in the past, but we are so busy with our poor prayers that we don’t think to climb higher. There have been times when I have prayed, “Father, show the world what you can do in and through a single woman.” A daring prayer. Did I then dare anything? Sadly, no.
          If you are praying for a cure for cancer (or a cancer), how much do you want it? Do you want that cure enough to dedicate your life to it? Will you add to your prayer the money you could have spent on yourself? Are you willing to impoverish yourself, to lose sleep, to do things you aren’t comfortable doing – perhaps for a long time – to achieve your request?
          What are the possibilities of prayer? They are far greater than most of us believe, perhaps only limited by God’s will and ours.