The Prayer That Works Always Changes The One Who Prays

(c) Deborah Evans

The best advice I ever received about prayer came from my father. This is what he said: "Pray as if everything depends upon God and work as if everything depends upon you."

My father was very well read, so it's possible he found this somewhere, or modified a quote he remembered from someone who advised him. My father passed away over 20 years ago, and this is some of the best advice he ever gave me.

Prayer comes first because the disciple always seeks the will and the way of the teacher.

Work can show up as: embracing new habits, accepting a new level of discipline, resting-eating-exercising sensibly, learning to speak up, learning to speak less, saying yes to new and different experiences, or in a hundred other ways.

Prayer is an invitation for God to change you. 

If you want to pray the prayer that works, be ready to change yourself, your perspectives, and your actions. 

For prayer to work, your actions must align with the words of your prayers. When your actions contradict the words of your prayers, you are engaging in wishful thinking instead of prayer.

If you're using prayer to try to change others, take a break. People change when they're ready and not just because you want their actions to make you feel more comfortable or less stressed. Get yourself to a safe place if necessary because free will is a gift of God to each person and it's never been recalled.