Someone once said the church is weak, dark, poor and imperfect, because there’s not enough prayer.

This is so true. And so difficult to understand. If I know that when I’m hungry   upon opening the fridge there’s food to satisfy my hunger, I will obviously open the fridge whenever I’m hungry.

I get everything in the fridge. It satisfies my hunger and gives me fuel to run all out for a few hours more. How stupid it would be to know that I only have to open the fridge, but not do it? My fuel would run out and I would simply come to a standstill.

I suspect the same can be said of prayer. We pray too little. We pray too little for one another. We pray too little for God’s will to become a reality in our lives. We pray too little and that’s why our works are powerless. It’s like putting the plug into the socket and not switching it on.

That sounds rather stupid, but isn’t that exactly what happens with our few or no prayers? Are we even praying with the expectation that Someone on the other side is listening, or even doing something with our prayers?

Corrie ten Boom, a Netherlands woman who, with her family, hid Jewish families in their home from the Nazis, said that prayer is the engine room of a congregation. If the engine is not healthy and running at full speed, the wheels will come off sooner than later.

In how many churches the wheels have come off and the buildings are standing empty, without any change having been made in the world?

The author of Hebrews knows about prayer. He knows what prayer can do, and that’s why he asks his readers boldly: ¹⁸Pray for us. We have no doubts about what we’re doing or why, but it’s hard going and we need your prayers. All we care about is living well before God. ¹⁹Pray that we may be together soon.

In a way he justifies his request by saying that his conscience is clean and that he, therefore, has a right to ask for prayer. But I would like to go as far as to say that even if we struggle to walk this road right, we can and should still go on our knees and talk to God.

Indeed, it is in prayer that we are taken out of this world, where we can calm down, and where we can get in tune with God. This is where we become different – to go and live differently in the world out there.

May we never forget the power of prayer. May we never stop praying for one another, for our loved ones, for our friends and colleagues. May we believe that prayer has a powerful effect.

May we also remember that prayer is the engine room of our lives and that we have to keep the engine running all the time. Believe and do it every day.

Scripture
Hebrews 13:17-21

Reflection
Do you pray?
Do you pray enough?
How can you pray more?

Prayer
Father, I have to confess that I don’t pray enough. I must confess that I don’t believe enough in the powerful work of prayer. Help me to pray more. Help me to believe in the powerful effect of prayer. In Jesus’ Name, amen.