Now you know at least seven reasons why you should pray but what are some of the effects of prayer? What difference does praying make in the life of the one who prays? Here are four effects to prayer:

evil is overcome

Mark records the story of the disciples failing to help a boy afflicted by evil spirits and then Jesus driving it out. When asked why he succeeded where the disciples failed, Jesus didn’t reply ‘Because I am the Son of God’ but more helpfully, that evil is driven out through prayer (Mk 9:29). When Jesus taught on prayer, we are to ask God to ‘deliver us from evil’.

There is plenty of evil in the world and in my heart, when I pray I come to the Holy One in whom no sin is found. Through prayer God deals with the evil in our own hearts and empowers us to tackle the evil we encounter in the world, be it in the systems of the world or in the lives of the people we meet.

anxiety and worry are overcome

I’m not particularly disposed to anxiety or worry on a daily basis, yet I know people who do not know what a day without worry feels like. For all of us though the easy confidence in God that Jesus calls us to when we’re told not to worry because it’s basically pointless (Mt 6:25-34) can seem frustratingly out of reach. Yet Paul writes that we find the answer in the act of prayer.

There are several steps to not being anxious in anything (Php 4:6-7). Our part is to pray and to pray with thanksgiving and bring the cause of our anxiety to God (requests and petitions) and then God does His part. In response to this, because He is kind and merciful, God gives us a peace that is beyond understanding and this peace guards and protects our hearts and minds. What are we protected from? From anxiety, because we have come to Jesus and we are in him, we are secure, loved and approved.

we receive from god

For many Christians the idea that believing in prayer precedes the receiving (Mk 11:24) has been hijacked by prosperity teachings and the ‘name it and claim it’ crowd. To do so fundamentally misses Jesus’ kingdom oriented message, that the will of God be done on earth as in heaven. This means the gifts God wants to give us are spiritual gifts that produce spiritual fruit. We ask for the Holy Spirit and we receive (Lk 11:13), we ask for wisdom and we receive (James 1:5), we ask for the spiritual gifts and we receive (1 Cor 12:31). In these things we can be confident in what we ask, in whom we ask and in the receiving of what we ask (1 Jn 3:22).

god hears

All of the above happens because we can be confident that God hears our prayers (1 Pet 3:12; James 5:16). It is because of our place in Christ, and because both the Spirit and the Son intercede for us (Rom 8:26 & 34) , because we have been adopted and made children of God that when we pray God hears.

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