Petitionary Prayer

Prayer, which is the chief exercise of faith, and by which we daily receive God's benefits - John Calvin.

Many petitionary prayers have been offered in prayer meetings. Do these prayers change God's plan? Does anybody benefit from these prayers? Some are convinced the more prayers offered, the better the result, meaning the better the chance that the petition will be granted. For the person who has cancer, payers for healing, for strength, for faith, for protection and many more were offered customarily. The question remain, do these prayers change anything?

The belief in the effectiveness of petitionary prayer at a glance seem to be in contradiction with the belief in all powerful, all knowing, totally good and constant God. God is unchangeable. So asking him anything is a futile exercise, isn't it? This often lead to apathy in prayer life among Christians. I don't really know how things work in the heavenly realms with regards to petitionary prayer. The following is my recent reflections.

Prayer has a therapeutic effect that Christians can avail themselves without incurring expensive psychotherapy sessions. Prayers has been known to have the effect of relieving the praying person of anxiety. Indeed we are called to pray when we are anxious (Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God - Philippians 4:6). When I pray for my own issues, I am relieved from being the sole owner of the issues. Giving ownership of my problems and worries to God is such as a liberating experience. Essentially, in my prayers I said, "I know You knew and You have a purpose. But now You know that I know that You know. You are in it and I am calling on You to take over and carry out your plan accordingly. Everything is now in your hands." Then relief from anxiety comes. That's one of the benefit of a petitionary prayer.

Now, what benefits do those who pray for others receive? Could it be that there is a benefit to be in the fellowship of other people illness, suffering, and problems? Could it be the fact that they were spared, allows them to silently offer a prayer of thanksgiving? I have to admit that I have in many occasions thanked God for not knowing what it was like to suffer the way others had suffered. Could it be that praying for others give us a sense that we have done our part in the grand scheme of the situation? Both of them may be the benefits of praying for others. In my experience, additionally, praying for others provide a variety of topic of conversation between myself and God. It is something to talk about and it gives me a way to prolong an encounter with God.

The benefits of offering petitionary prayer essentially is not in the positive change it can bring about. But instead, it is in the encounter with God itself; that is the benefit for all who pray.