WHEN PRAYER FAILS…...

                                                WHEN PRAYER FAILS…...

There are basically three things that are done in a service viz:

v  We hear the Word (of God)

v  We pray (to God) and;

v  We praise (God)

The first two are ways of receiving from God but

the last is special in that it is our only way of giving back to God. How delightful is that when we have to give back to the maker of Heaven and Earth?

Prayer is effective, very powerful – you and I are witnesses to that but there are instances when prayer seems not to work. It is not as if we don’t know how to pray again but it just looks like nothing is happening even with fasting added. There are also instances when we pray and it seems like our prayers are not going beyond the roof of the room in which we are. The question is: where should we turn to when prayer seems to fail?

            The Bible has it that when Solomon went to Gibeon and offered a thousand sacrifices to God, at night God appeared to him in a dream (1 Kings3:4-5). In Acts 16:25, the Bible says: “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” We all know what happened in the next verse. They prayed first and then praised – nothing happened when they were praying but when they were praising God, something happened: God was moved and there was a great earthquake then there bands were loosed and the doors were opened. Also, look at the life of David and I will tell you that David’s secret is in praise. God established his reign after giving “a crazy praise” to God.

            It is however worth note-taking that PRAISE goes beyond the “praise and worship session” in church or fellowship. It is what should be a LIFESTYLE. It is not about the musical instruments in place but a THING OF THE HEART – IT IS ABOUT GIVING QUALITY WORSHIP TO GOD (REFERENCING HIM).

            This is what a lot of us have mixed up. When you pray, your prayer finds its way to God and the answer (when answered) its way back. The Devil could block prayers or answers to prayers (a typical example is the case of Daniel) but WHEN YOU PRAISE, GOD HIMSELF COMES DOWN TO ATTEND TO YOUR CASE for HE inhabits the praises of Israel (HIS people) – Psalms 22:3. The Devil, you agree with me cannot dare to stop God.

            So I say to you; WHEN PRAYER FAILS, TRY PRAISES!

                                                                                                                        Adeniji, Oluyemi A.