The wide-scale injustices and breakdown of democracy we are experiencing today can leave you wondering if your prayers have power. I get it. When the news is heavy, and the future is uncertain, it’s easy to wonder. Is God even listening? The pain points are clear: fear, anxiety, a loss of basic safety and stability. I promise you this: Your prayers have power. In this article I want to share with you five principles for powerful prayer.

But first, let’s address a common myth about prayer that I often hear.

The Myth that Only Certain Prayers are Heard

A common myth is that only certain prayers are heard. Or that only certain people can enact real change. But here’s the truth. In the face of major systems of injustice, change is not a sudden, one-time event. Rather, change comes about through a tapestry of courageous actions and persistent prayer. In the words of St. Francis of Assisi “The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today”.

Five Principles of Powerful Prayer

To transform your approach to prayer and rise from discipleship to apostleship, here are the five principles of powerful prayer. They come from believing like Jesus, not simply believing in Him.

1) Seek Divine Partnership: Jesus, being fully human and fully divine, regularly withdrew to lonely, quiet places to pray, seeking guidance, strength, meditation, renewal, and communion with God. Prayer is the most essential form of communication with the divine. Jesus invites us to believe that we too are in divine partnership with God.

2) Believe You Have Received: Jesus’ audacious advice is: “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24). It sounds a little easier than it is. Because it means not doubting our own faith, or your own relationship with God. As you begin to believe like Jesus and believe your prayers have power, start by praying for something you can truly believe in, something you won’t actively doubt you can do. For instance, pray that you can be consistently kind toward others.  Rather than praying that you can stop unjust practices on the spot. Start small, build your faith, and work up toward the larger goals.

3) Practice Persistence: Jesus taught his disciples to always pray and not give up. Like the persistent woman who received justice from an unjust judge, your persistence in faith and prayer is a key ingredient. The scriptures counsel us to “not grow weary in well-doing.” Pray each day for God’s good and gracious will to be done. Then look for instances where it is happening. Tell others of the good that you are witnessing. Not as a way of ignoring evil, but to create a positive feedback loop and build the muscle of persistent prayer.

4) Align Your Beliefs (Intentionality): Your prayers can be hindered when you pray against your deepest beliefs. In other words, if you pray for a big blessing but deep down suspect you don’t deserve it, your beliefs are not aligned with your prayer. Align your prayers with your beliefs, as Jesus did, and watch miracles unfold.

5) Prayer is Action: Not all prayer is meditative or in solitude. Can one be truly blessed while turning a blind eye to the suffering of others? Don’t wait for the answers to your prayers to come to you – get out of your comfort zone! Put feet on your prayers by volunteering at a food bank, turning out for protests, or seeking the betterment of others. Powerful prayer is active.

How My Prayers Got Answered…Finally

By the time I was ready for children I was forty. I desperately longed for the experience of parenting, but nothing seemed to work. After investigating foster to adopt programs, domestic and international adoption, none of these paths felt right. I even prayed, “God, can’t the stork just ring the doorbell and drop off a child on the front steps?” I grieved and thought I had let the desire go.

Fast forward more than twenty years. I found myself in a deep existential crisis, burdened by a profound sense of absence and loneliness. The longing for a multi-generational family returned with a vengeance, leaving me sad and listless. Ten days into this crisis, a friend’s family was falling apart, and their two young children were in danger. I prayed for them that night. The very next morning, two little brothers lay fast asleep in the guest bedroom, having been dropped off late in the night by a social worker. Without forewarning, they were two children to care for, a sudden and unexpected disruption.

My surprise quickly turned to wonder and acceptance, as I knew in my heart this was God’s work. The existential crisis vanished; my heart soared. God had finally answered my “stork prayer”—just two decades later than I’d expected.

Next Steps/Takeaways

Your prayers are a thread in the tapestry of a new unfolding reality. Prayer is essential for both transforming systems of injustice and for bringing God’s answers into your life. So don’t give up hope. But you’ll have to surrender self-limiting thought patterns, and the desire for immediate gratification. Instead, actively adopt attitudes and beliefs that align with your prayers. Here are two next steps.

Answer the Call: Believe in your prayers as Jesus does. Believe that God has already said “Yes” to you. Then, allow God to answer your prayers in God’s own way and time.

Practice: See everything that happens in your life—that new opportunity, that unexpected gift, those sudden circumstances—as an answer to a prayer.

To deepen your understanding and capacity for apostolic prayer, I invite you to join me at an upcoming spiritual retreat, held at Epiphany, the twelfth day of Christmas. Learn more and register here:  Epiphany: Manifesting the Miraculous.

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