Silas
Beloved of All
It is understandable to feel distressed when someone you do not trust insists on praying for you, but there is peace to be found in understanding what prayer truly is and how God hears it.
Prayer is not a power that one person can use to control or harm another. It is not a kind of spiritual force that can be reversed or turned against you, and it is not a way to inform God of something He does not already know or to wear Him down until He does what we demand. Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. The purpose of prayer is not to get our will done on earth, but to see His will done. True prayer begins with God, with His purposes and desires made known to our hearts, and we then speak that back to Him. It moves in a circle from God to us and back to God, ending as it began with His kingdom, His power and His glory.
Because of this, no one can force God to do harm to you through prayer. God is not subservient to us. We are subservient to Him. He will not change His perfect will to accommodate a wrong motive, and He will not be manipulated by persistence or by words spoken without a right heart. Scripture says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much. That means prayer that is sincere, from the heart, often rising out of deep need, offered by one who is walking rightly before God, is what God honors. Prayer that is cavalier, self seeking, or offered with a gossiping or bitter spirit does not move God to act against His own nature and will.
Prayer also depends entirely on relationship. Jesus taught us to pray saying, Our Father. If He is not your Father through faith in Jesus Christ, then prayer has no foundation. There is only one prayer God desires to hear from one who is not yet His child, and that is, God be merciful to me, a sinner. That prayer establishes the relationship that opens the door to all other prayer. If you have that relationship, you can come to Him directly as your Father, and you can trust that He hears you.
This means your security does not rest on whether another person prays for you or stops praying for you. You cannot stop someone else from praying, and you do not need to. You can instead bring your own heart to God and pray the wisest prayer any of us can pray, Lord, work out your complete and perfect will in my life. Have your way in my life. Do for me what you want to do. That prayer opens the door for God to do freely what He has desired to do all along, without violating the will He has given you. It aligns your heart with His purpose, and when you are in harmony with His purpose, you will see His answer.
You do not need to fear that another person's prayers are making your life worse. God judges the heart and hears according to His righteousness and love. Instead of anxiety, prayer is meant to bring assurance, comfort and even rejoicing as His Spirit ministers to you.
So continue in prayer yourself, and watch with thanksgiving. Bring everything to God, not as a last resort but as your first. If you are troubled by this other person, pray for her as well, that God would work in her heart and yours, and trust your Father to accomplish what is good and right. He hears the prayer offered in faith, in sincerity, and in submission to His will, and He will answer according to His faithfulness and righteousness.
Prayer is not a power that one person can use to control or harm another. It is not a kind of spiritual force that can be reversed or turned against you, and it is not a way to inform God of something He does not already know or to wear Him down until He does what we demand. Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. The purpose of prayer is not to get our will done on earth, but to see His will done. True prayer begins with God, with His purposes and desires made known to our hearts, and we then speak that back to Him. It moves in a circle from God to us and back to God, ending as it began with His kingdom, His power and His glory.
Because of this, no one can force God to do harm to you through prayer. God is not subservient to us. We are subservient to Him. He will not change His perfect will to accommodate a wrong motive, and He will not be manipulated by persistence or by words spoken without a right heart. Scripture says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much. That means prayer that is sincere, from the heart, often rising out of deep need, offered by one who is walking rightly before God, is what God honors. Prayer that is cavalier, self seeking, or offered with a gossiping or bitter spirit does not move God to act against His own nature and will.
Prayer also depends entirely on relationship. Jesus taught us to pray saying, Our Father. If He is not your Father through faith in Jesus Christ, then prayer has no foundation. There is only one prayer God desires to hear from one who is not yet His child, and that is, God be merciful to me, a sinner. That prayer establishes the relationship that opens the door to all other prayer. If you have that relationship, you can come to Him directly as your Father, and you can trust that He hears you.
This means your security does not rest on whether another person prays for you or stops praying for you. You cannot stop someone else from praying, and you do not need to. You can instead bring your own heart to God and pray the wisest prayer any of us can pray, Lord, work out your complete and perfect will in my life. Have your way in my life. Do for me what you want to do. That prayer opens the door for God to do freely what He has desired to do all along, without violating the will He has given you. It aligns your heart with His purpose, and when you are in harmony with His purpose, you will see His answer.
You do not need to fear that another person's prayers are making your life worse. God judges the heart and hears according to His righteousness and love. Instead of anxiety, prayer is meant to bring assurance, comfort and even rejoicing as His Spirit ministers to you.
So continue in prayer yourself, and watch with thanksgiving. Bring everything to God, not as a last resort but as your first. If you are troubled by this other person, pray for her as well, that God would work in her heart and yours, and trust your Father to accomplish what is good and right. He hears the prayer offered in faith, in sincerity, and in submission to His will, and He will answer according to His faithfulness and righteousness.
