Does prayer work? By "work" I mean "produce the desired (asked for) results".
How do you know?
If we imagine that prayer is a formula of do X to get Y, that it is a kind of formulaic way of bending the universe to get what we want or invoking the divine to get what we want then we are engaging in magic, or at the very least we are thinking and acting like pagans.
Pagans did this, their religious practice was based upon the premise of doing things to get what we want, say these invocations, use these talismans, offer sacrifice to the gods, etc and we will get a better harvest, or we can stave off disaster, or we can have better healthy, a happier family, have better chances at having children, or ward off the evil eye, etc.
And this very clearly isn't how Christians are supposed to do things. That is precisely the "vain repetitions of the Gentiles" that Jesus wants us to avoid. As though prayer is some kind of automatic, magical, formulaic invocation that can be used to gain divine favor and/or bend the universe to get what we want. That we can, in some way, impose our will upon the world if we do or say the right things.
So our Lord teaches us how to pray, and how does He teach us to pray?
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"
We pray by recognizing that not only is God already the one who is in control--He already reigns in the heavens, but we submit ourselves humbly to the fact that this is so. And we pray that this same Reign of God come and His will be done here--we pray that God do what He wills to do, that He be the One in control. We do not pray "My will" but "Thy will". We are not trying to bend or influence God, we are not seeking to bend the universe to our will--we are seeking to bend ourselves, we are the ones who need to be changed, to be bent and orientated toward the way and will and kingdom of God.
So that when we continue, "Give us this day our supersubstantial bread, forgive us our trespasses even as we forgive others their trespasses, keep us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil" this is not imposing our will, but seeking the will of God.
God is the One who provides and sustains us, we pray that God keep us and sustain us as He promised He would; His provision is what we need day to day. We know He forgives us, for He is the God of all mercy and we have beheld the mercy and forgiveness He so richly and abundantly pours out through Christ who suffered and died for us--may we therefore forgive. God change me, bend me, you forgive me I should forgive others, give me the heart to forgive. Keep us from the time of trial, we trust in Him who saves and preserves us, deliver us from evil--keep us, preserve us, save us--for He in His love and good mercy says He will.
We are the ones who are to be changed, to be bent toward His way and will, to be aligned with Him. Our Lord invites us to come before God as our Father who already desires what is good for us, because He loves us, and to patiently wait on Him, to be shaped by Him, to be changed by Him, that our lives should be conformed to Him.
Prayer is not about getting what I want. And so prayer does not "work" in the sense of a kind of magical invocation to manipulate cosmic or supernatural forces to get what I want. Prayer is about how I need God, and that we as God's people are to be a people who represent, reflect, and are bent toward God's way and will.
Our Lord's Prayer, as He has taught us, is a prayer of how I must in all ways be subject to God who already desires what is good and knows what is best for me--I may not understand it, I may not appreciate what I go through in the moment; but God is indeed working (as Paul says) all things toward the good for those who love Him. I may experience all manner of terrible things in this life, and there is no wrong in praying, "God save me from this suffering" but more important is that even when I do suffer, I trust in God and remember His promises, and that ultimately God's kingdom and will prevails.
May His kingdom come now, even as it shall come on that Last Day.
May His will be done now, for His will shall be accomplished in full.
For I shall, by His mercy, pass through death into life, passing through judgment by mercy alone.
And at long last evil and wickedness shall pass away, and the good shall be established--may God keep me and preserve me, that I may see that Day, and rest in the everlasting sabbath of God's justice and mercy which is in Christ our Lord.
-CryptoLutheran
