By Briana Bass, Christian Romance Author, Devotional Writer & Certified Professional Coach

“Now I lay me down to sleep…” Do those words sound familiar? As a kid, I said them every night before bed. I can’t tell you when or where I first learned that prayer. I can guarantee my younger self didn’t truly understand its power.

Prayer is powerful. And tricky. And not always welcome. It’s demonstrated time and again in the Bible, those Biblical heroes talking to God and God talking back.

But that was thousands of years ago. Is prayer even worth it in the twenty-first century?

Dial GOD for Help

The short answer is yes, prayer is still worth it and it does work. Prayer is our way of maintaining a relationship with Jesus. He wants to hear from us! We can praise Him, we can bring our worries and concerns to Him, we can ask for Him for help, just by praying. He promises to always answer:

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocker hit shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 (KJV)

Now, what that answer looks like may not be what we expect, but it will be an answer. I think that’s the other piece that sometimes trips us up. Even if we know how to pray (see Matthew 6:9-13 for a how-to), we don’t always recognize when prayers have been answered because the answer doesn’t match our expectations.

God always answers prayers. Many people use the phrase “unanswered prayers” when what they really mean is that God answered “no” or “wait.” We sometimes have trouble seeing the answer when what we are looking for is different than what God is giving us.

That’s Not What I Ordered

When war broke out in Ukraine, I prayed for a way I could help. I don’t have medical skills. I’m not geographically located near Ukraine. I had no idea what, if anything, I could do. I just felt an overwhelming need to do something.

So one Saturday I prayed that God would point me in the direction of some way I could help the Ukrainian people. The next morning at church, my pastor announced we were launching a clothing and blanket drive for Ukrainian refugees.

I’m a great shopper. I can buy gloves and socks and blankets. It was a direct answer to my prayer.

Not every answer is so obvious. One of my biggest desires is to be a mother. It hasn’t happened yet. I am, however, a youth advisor. Not quite the same thing but I do get to play an active role in molding and discipling teens. If I never have children of my own at least I can say I helped shape an awesome group of youth.

Pray Without Ceasing

Prayer can solve so many problems. It can lighten our hearts, or point us in the right direction. It gives us something to do when we feel like there’s nothing left to try. Prayer works, even when, or maybe especially when, we can’t see it.