What Happens After You Pray? Transform Your Prayers into Action

Prayer leads to action

You have prayed.  Maybe the first time, and maybe the hundredth time.  And each time you pray you are stuck wondering what happens now. 

God promises He hears and He answers, but it doesn’t always feel like it.  Especially if you are repeating the same requests. 

So you wait and see.  Not really convinced anything will be different.  Or maybe you figure it is another area your attitude needs to change, so you try to be more positive and more optimistic in general.  But the need goes unmet.  Again.  And it seems like, once again, God has ignored you.

What if the key to having your prayers answered is to take action?  Being proactive in making things different?

I’m not suggesting manipulation, and you will know if that is what is happening, because that is a heart issue.

I am talking real steps to make things different.

I do acknowledge there are times when the answer is no.  And please do not force the issue.  Eventually God may give you want you want if you push and push (think like a parent giving into a child), but that will not be best for you.

We see a perfect example in the Old Testament when the Israelites were begging God for a king to rule over them, because they wanted to be like the other countries around them.  Many times God responded with a no and told them it was not going to be the experience they envisioned.  But they kept asking, and eventually He gave them what they wanted.

Well, Israel had nothing but issues from that point forward.  They were like the other nations around them.  They were led by power hungry men who didn’t lead them in the ways of God.  And it was miserable for all of them.

Don’t be like the Israelites when God gives you a no.  His no is for your protection and because He has something better in mind.

But when He hasn’t given you a no, what do you do?  Are you supposed to sit and wait and do nothing?  Are you expecting the doors of Heaven to open and just lay it all in front of you?  What is supposed to happen?

I have spent 20 years praying for things to change in my home and in my marriage.  And it isn’t because I have a bad marriage or my home isn’t good, but I have always known God was preparing us for more and calling us to more.

Throughout the 20 years I have noticed patterns.  I watched as I would pray for certain things to happen, and then I would try to make them happen.  The issue was related to something between Ben and me, and it required him to change certain behaviors and take charge the way God instructs the husband to lead.

Well he didn’t.  So I would try to force the matter.

That never ended well.  It often left us off worse than we were to begin with.

Over time, I learned that it isn’t my responsibility to change anyone’s heart.  That is God’s job.  And while I have always KNOWN this to be true, it hits differently when it directly impacts you.

I had to accept my husband’s weakness and let God work in his life.

The last couple of years I began to step back and let things play out instead of interfering.  And this is what got my husband’s attention.  In my fears and worries I was getting in the way of him being able to fully feel the consequences of his failed leadership.  Each time I came to the rescue sheltered him from the reality that we were living in.

I began to look at the problems to see if I was contributing to them in any way.  When I realized my behavior was drawing things out I began to change ME.  I changed the way I thought about it.  I then changed my actions, and eventually my heart changed, as well.

Ben’s behavior hadn’t changed, but I was no longer carrying the burden of his choices.

The key to change was ACTION.

This particular action was about being gracious and humble even though his decisions had negative impact on me. 

And now, Ben is doing things drastically differently.  And positive changes are taking place.

A result of us taking individual action based on what God was telling each of us has led to us taking great action together. 

And that greater action is the answer (as far as we understand today) to the things I have been praying about for 20 years.

James 2 says this:  17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”

Some examples of good deeds include helping at church, leading Bible studies or small groups, participating in church events, giving a tithe. While all of these things are good, they are only a fraction of the good deeds we are supposed to be doing.

These are things that look good.  And anyone can do them.  I have known many people that go to church and they look like they are the good Christian person—doing all the right things, serving at all the right times.  But in reality, they were not really walking and talking with God.  They were practicing the religion of Christianity and completely missing the point of it all. 

A few verses down in James 2, we are told that Abraham’s faith and deeds worked together.  He gained favor with God when he worked out his faith while taking Issac to be sacrificed.

And then Rahab hid the spies, and that was her faith in action.  That was where faith and deeds met.

The life of follower of Jesus should be full of action meets faith moments.  Faith is believing in God, but it isn’t enough.  It doesn’t set us apart. Faith doesn’t deal with the heart.  Faith is necessary to know God.  But as James says, even the demons believe in God. 

And works without faith is what every other religion offers.  You earn your way to goodness and rightness.  You do all the good things and follow all the rules, and then you will be rewarded.

That is not living with a renewed mind that leads to a transformed heart, which in turn leads to a life of abundance and freedom. 

While we did all the right things for a long time, we were missing the mark on something important things in our home life.

This thing…money.

That is what our struggles have all revolved around. 

We tithed at times and saved at others.  But at the end of the day, we viewed being poor as being holy. 

We do not have it all figured out yet.  But we allowed God to get our attention about our attitude toward money, and we started doing things differently because we have a new perspective.

In Genesis 2, before Adam and Eve have sinned and are kicked out of the Garden and will need money, it says that God created gold that was exceptionally pure.  He told them where it was, because He knew they would need it.  He also created pearls and onyx, and they were near the gold.

So if God declares the gold to be “exceptionally pure”, who are we to declare money bad?  Who are we to say being poor is more holy?

While it is a popular belief in our society, it is a wrong teaching.

Rahab couldn’t have hid the spies if she didn’t have a house for them to stay in.

Did you know the Israelites, when they conquered the Promised Land, only occupied 10% of what God had for them?  They got comfortable and lazy, so they missed out on the full extent of His promise and blessing for them.

When we learned this we were shocked.  And then realized we do the same things.  Our goal and focus now is claiming all that God is giving us.  And to do so without shame o embarrassment.  Because when we use what He gives us, we can have a great impact on the world around us.

Follow God’s leading in your life and see what He opens for you.  And then pursue it wholeheartedly and share with others from the bounty He has blessed you with.

This is how change happens and prayers are answered.

What is God showing you that you need to change?  What thought patterns and ideas need renewed by the Word of God (not the church or a book) so you can be transformed?