Does Prayer Really Help

DOES PRAYER REALLY HELP?
The question springs unbidden to the mind of most people at some point in life – does it really help to pray? In a time of crisis, a person who does not believe in God may think it’s worth a shot, maybe as a last resort, but doesn’t believe that it is likely to do much good. Prayer is an act of faith, of belief and trust in God, and is a beautiful avenue for all requests from a believing person to God. It is also a beautiful cry from the heart of one who does not believe, but very much wants to believe, to meet and know God. If that is you, God will help you, and reveal Himself to you through His Son Jesus Christ!
Believers, Christians, are encouraged in the Bible to “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:16). The 5th Chapter of James is rich in the power of prayer, noting that “the prayer of faith shall save the sick”, and that the effective and fervent prayer of a righteous man avails (accomplishes) much. At the same time, the Bible does not state that every prayer will be answered as we expect or hope it will be. There are something like 650 Biblical instances of prayer recorded, of which about 450 were answered in an audible or visible way. So we pray, not expecting that God will obey our prescription, but believing that He will do what is best.
I write this week at a time of great personal witness to the power of prayer. A relative of mine collapsed last week due to unknown reasons, other than the absence of a heartbeat or breathing, and lay comatose for many days. A brain scan caused the doctors to predict that, if she lived, she would never regain normal brain function, and discussions about a funeral commenced. Her family, and hundreds of other people, have been praying earnestly for the recovery of this mother of 5, in spite of the outlook. This last weekend, she opened her eyes and started to respond to questions with a blink or a nod, and as I write, she is talking with her family! It is truly a miracle, explainable only by the power of God. He heard the prayers, did what He considered best, and we are thankful.
Yes, it really helps to pray!
God bless you,
Stephen Wuori