The God Conspiracy
I believe that prayer is one of the most powerful resources available to believers. I don’t believe it just because the Bible says it — I believe it because I have experienced the power of prayer in my own life. Sometimes my prayers are answered immediately. Being the impatient person I am, I love it when that happens. Of course, that tends to be the exception more than the rule. Some of the prayers I’ve prayed have taken years — even decades — to be answered. But an answered prayer is still an answered prayer! The late Billy Graham said, “Heaven is full of answers to prayer for which no one ever bothered to ask.”
Have you ever prayed desperate prayers only to feel like your prayers were like helium balloons vanishing into the horizon, never to be seen again? Praying requires faith, but it also requires a certain level of knowledge — or so we think. No one purposely prays dumb prayers, but many times we don’t have enough information to pray intelligently. If you feel that way, I have some good news for you. The Bible says that God conspires with the Holy Spirit to help us with our prayers.
In Romans 8:26-28 it says, “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”
Did you pick up on the conspiracy factor there? We throw up a prayer, hoping God understands what we are trying to say — but God has all the information we don’t have. Father God and the Holy Spirit conspire on our behalf and say, “We’ll take it from here.” And so, now our prayers are super-powered because while we are praying, we have two-thirds of the Trinity working on our behalf.
The more complicated part for us is when we pray and the answer doesn’t look like an answer at all. Let me give you an example. On the night that Jesus was arrested before His crucifixion, Jesus said this to Peter in Luke 22:31-32, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”
Now, on the surface of things, this seems like a failed prayer. What does Peter do that very evening? He denies that he even knew Jesus three times. However, let's take a closer look at that prayer. Jesus pleaded for Peter in prayer knowing he would fail. Jesus also knew that Peter would repent of his failure and reclaim his faith in Him. Not too long after Jesus’ departure, Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and 3,000 people committed their lives to Jesus. What looked like a failed prayer turned into a miraculous answer to prayer.
Maybe you are praying for someone right now and it seems like things are getting worse instead of better. That is often what happens right before God answers our prayers. So take heart — your prayers are in the God conspiracy zone. Get ready for an answer to your prayers!
Stay close to Jesus,
Steve