prayer and "What if his people prayed"

Prayer is an intricate part of the bible. One search through the NIV brought up 155 times where the word prayer is mentioned. The word "pray" brought up 365 results. Prayer is our way of connecting with God. It is how we talk to him and let him know that we acknowledge His presence. It is one of the most powerful tools we have as Christians and one of the best.

So just what does the bible say about prayer. Well it obviously says many things, but surprisingly enough there aren't any real directions for prayer until the New Testament. Matthew 6:5 is one of the first times Jesus addresses the topic of prayer. He commanded "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full." So Jesus is not telling us that we can't pray publicly, however, He is saying that our reason for prayer should be to talk to Him, not to look good. Jesus continues with His lesson on prayer from Matthew 6:5-9. These verses continue to make note that it is better to pray in private where you can be sure that you are not praying to look good.

The next time Jesus mentions prayer is in Matthew 21:22. This verse says 21Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Jesus is telling us that prayer works, and that God always answers prayers. It does not guarantee that we will like how God answer but He will answer them. Another thing those two verses state is that faith can move mountains, which shows just how small our faith really is (please note that this shouldn't be translated literally, it is figurative speech).

Another thing we are taught that prayer can do for us is to cast out demons. In Mark 9:28-30 28After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" 29He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer.[a]" 30They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were. We can tell from this verse that prayer is a tool that can be used to cast out demons.

Another interesting thing said about prayer is that it is mentioned repeatedly that we should devote ourselves to prayer. Paul says this in Colossians 4:2 and numerous other times. James also tells us in chapter 5 that we should "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

So just in review here is what I covered.
Prayer is/can do all of the following:

useful, when combined with faith anything can be done

drive out demons

ease sickness (there are numerous accounts of praying for healing in the new church, and Jesus himself prayed to heal people from time to time)

something that we should devote ourselves to

finally we reviewed that prayer is powerful if you have faith and are saved.

prayer is not:

to be used for fame

to be a bunch of random babbling (continue reading all the verses I mentioned even if I didn't post them)

I hope that this proved helpful to anyone who was looking to find out what prayer is

What if the armies of the Lord
Picked up and dusted off their swords
Vowed to set the captive free
And not let satan have one more

What if the Church, for heaven's sake
Finally stepped up to the plate
Took a stand upon God's promise
And stormed hell's rusty gates

Chorus I:
What if His people prayed
And those who bear His name
Would humbly seek His faith, yeah
And turn from their old ways

And what would happen if we prayed
For those raised up to lead the way
Then maybe kids in school could pray
And unborn children see light of day

What if the life that we pursue
Came from a hunger for the truth
What if the family turned to Jesus
Stopped asking Oprah what to do

Chorus I:
What if His people prayed
And those who bear His name
Would humbly seek His face yeah
And turn from their own way
Chorus II:
He said that He would hear
His promise has been made
He'll answer loud and clear, yeah
If only we would pray

Bridge:
If My people call by My name
If they'll humble themselves and pray
If My people call by My name
If they'll humble themselves and pray

Choruses:
What if His people prayed
And those who bear His name
Would humbly seek His face, yeah
And turn from their old ways
He said that He would hear
His promise has been made
He'll answer loud and clear yeaah
If only we would pray