Let's Start Praying More (Part 12)

 
TRANSFORMATION AND MERIT THROUGH PRAYER
 
Most believers come before the Father in prayer hoping to change the mind of the Father. However, this idea runs contrary to the scripture, “I, the LORD, do not change” (Mal 3:6) and “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever,” (Heb 13:8). If the mind of the Creator can be easily changed, He becomes like one of the gods of mythology who the ancient people believed could be tricked into answering their prayers.
 
Many believers will initially think this understanding runs contrary to passages in scripture such as after the petition of Moses, “The LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people” (Ex 32:14), and the extension of Hezekiah’s life by fifteen years after he prayed, (2 Kings 20:1-6).  However, saying that the LORD God changes His mind dismisses His foreknowledge of our prayer and actions. In reality, God has already foreseen His response before the words of our prayer have even entered our mind, (Isa 65:24). The real power and purpose of prayer is to transform the believer and bring him into a closer relationship with God, as the author of Hebrews writes,
 
“Draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb 10:22)
 
In scripture, prayer is seen to change the person who prayed. The Encyclopedia Judiaca observed that through prayer,  “Abraham learned the lesson of faith (Gen 15:1-6); Moses became his people’s deliver (Ex 3:2-4:18); Isaiah was transformed into a prophet (Isa 6:5-8).” (Encyclopedia Judiaca, Volume 16, page 458)
 
The act of praying has the power to transform the individual who prays through the merit of prayer and the desire to live a life worthy of an answered prayer. “When we pray for the recovery of a sick person we are performing an important mitzvah by declaring that health and illness, life and death, are in His hands alone.” (Praying With Fire, Rabbi Heshy Kleinman, page xv)
 
In addition to the person praying, the person who is prayed for also receives merit because his illness has caused other people to perform the mitzvah of prayer (ibid, page xvi). The combination of personal merit, i.e. “righteousness”, and the merit that comes from the collective prayer of others can bring a sick person back to health. Following this understanding, we can postulate that the more righteous people praying for a sick person, the greater chance that healing will occur.
 
“Ultimately, the sick person himself is transformed by all the merit he has accumulated, albeit without his knowledge, and the decree against him may be rescinded…Sometimes, the merit a sick person accumulates throught the prayers of other people is sufficient to tip the scales in his favor and rescind the evil decree…The merits accumulated by the sick person, through his own prayers, and through the prayers of others, belong to him for all eternity, along with the merit of all the mitzvos he has performed during his lifetime.” (Ibid, page xvii).  While study of the scripture will bring us into the world to come, “prayer can provide all the necessities of this world, such as good health, a livelihood, peace of mind, and spiritual growth.”
 
The apostle Paul appears to validate the understanding that merit comes from prayer when he wrote to the Corinthians, “You also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many,” (2 Cor 1:11).  The "prayers" of Corinthian believers, resulted in "favor", which leads to "thanks...given by many persons."  The thanksgiving results in merit attributable to those who speak it and those who originally prayed.
 
The model for prayer in the epistle of James is the prophet Elijah. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit,” (James 5:17-18). Elijah may have been “a man with a nature like ours”, but it was the personal merit of Elijah, derived from his righteousness, that the LORD answered when he “prayed earnestly”.
 
The believer should never take the ability to pray for granted. It is a gift that appears confined to human beings created in the image of God. I am unaware of any passage in scripture that indicates prayer from any other created being. Although angels are given to praise the Creator, they only carry out the will of the Creator and are not given to lifting prayers for the intercession of the Creator. Each human being is capable of prayer that could achieve the impact of the prophets and great men of the Bible.
 
“Our prayers have the potential to do as much for us as the prayers of our great ancestors did for them.” (Praying With Fire, Rabbi Heshy Kleinman, page 59)
 
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