I want my prayer to impact the world! I am not interested in spending minutes each day reading down a list of prayer requests like they were a grocery list. I want to affect eternity.

I recently spent some time with an elderly shut-in and we talked a lot about prayer. She was looking at her life as pretty much over.

• she can’t leave the house
• she can barely read anymore
• strokes have left her memory shot and scattered
• she no longer leads bible studies
• she is alone and feels useless

She confessed to me that every day she prays for God to take her home because she has nothing to live for. I began to challenge her on some things that God has taught me over the years about the power and nature of prayer. I’d like to share them with you.

Prayer transcends space.

In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled,
and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus… 1 Cor 5:4

This old woman looks at her life as lived out in her tiny home, in her rural community with an extremely limited contact with other people. Her vision for her life is boxed in and, in her mind, made small and insignificant. But this is NOT who she is!

At the point of our conversion, we become spiritual beings. Yes we are mortal creatures in our physical temporary bodies on this decaying planet. But for the believer, that is NOT who we really are! [bctt tweet=”We are spiritual beings, living as part of eternity that reaches into the heavenly places!” quote=”We are spiritual beings, living as part of eternity that reaches into the heavenly places!”]

When we pray, our spirits soar up to the Throne of Grace. Think of it! Our impact for the Kingdom of God goes far beyond our little prayer closets, our tiny homes, our small plots of land. We are affecting our neighborhoods, our towns, our states, our nation, our world when we connect with the heart of God and step into His presence in prayer!

I often think about the spiritual world around us and how we live our lives oblivious to the realities of it. Oh, we recite scripture verses like:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness,
against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Eph 6:12

But do we REALLY believe it? Do we really understand the fullness of what this means? For the most part, no. Being corporeal creatures, it is so hard for us to put our heads into the spiritual realm.

We are spiritual beings!

This is the real truth about who we are. We forget it so often and get sucked into the limitations of our temporary lives that are but a vapor. But that is only the shell that contains the real us. My life, my inner man, the real me deep inside this body is not bound by the space I’m taking up. When I pray, I reach into the very heavens itself and speak to the heart and mind of God. In my communion with Him in prayer, space has no meaning. The limits of my earth-bound body has no meaning. Because we are spiritual beings.

Prayer transcends time.

And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints,
went up before God out of the angel’s hand. Rev 8:4

I love the idea that God is outside of time. My puny mind doesn’t really comprehend it very well, but time is only a construct for our world. But in eternity, where God dwells, it means nothing. [bctt tweet=”So when I pray, I am affecting eternity.” quote=”So when I pray, I am affecting eternity.”]

YIKES! When I think about that I find myself in tears at the expanse of heaven and the tininess of my world.

Things happen eternally:

• when I pray
• when I step into the presence of the Lord
• when I listen in prayer
• when I pray the scriptures
• when my heart is touched for the lost
• when I humble myself in confession
• when I boldly stand before the Throne of Grace

My prayers for God’s glory and with a heart filled with hope and humility and boldness (and yes, they can co-exist) affect eternity itself. Praying for strength and wisdom for my pastors affects not just them, but the saints they are equipping for the work of the ministry. Praying for power and might in my children’s character affects not just them, but all those they will touch with the gospel of Jesus. I think you get the idea.

Prayer transcends all the boundaries we see.

We are so quick to limit our influence in life. We look at our blogs and see how small they are or we look at our ministry and see that we are not a mega speaker with a vast following. But every time we step before the Lord in prayer, none of that matters because we are addressing the God of the Universe! And for God, there are no boundaries. When we run on our high places with the Great Shepherd, then we know no boundaries.

Please, let’s stop thinking our lives are insignificant. We are children of the King of Kings! We are co-heirs with Christ! And when we pray, the heart of God moves.

I challenged my elderly friend that so long as she was on this earth, God had a purpose for her — a purpose to expand the Kingdom of God. I challenged her to be the spiritual pillar of support and strength within the church. To be Aaron and Hur for Moses when he needed to keep his arms upraised to see the battle be won. They lifted his arms when his own strength was failing. They were honored for their part in the victory. They were his pillars of strength.

How is God calling you to transcend time and space through your prayers? Where is God calling you to strengthen the arms of those in the midst of the battle? How is God calling your prayers to advance the Kingdom of God?

All Scripture quotations are taken from the NASB.
Unless otherwise indicated, photos from pixaby.com