The Numbers Game — A LifeWords Devotion

And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety. (NLT)

We sometimes hear of testimonies of those who have received wonderful blessings and attributed those blessings to lots of prayers being offered. Sounds good. But it raises questions. Such as whether the sheer numbers of people praying for something offers greater assurance of getting that something. Such as wondering if there is a certain numerical quota that we have to achieve before God grants the request.  

Does the fact that a hundred people prayed for a certain blessing and only ten prayed for another blessing mean that one will be granted and one will not? Such raw arithmetic doesn’t sit easily with the real nature of prayer in the context of God’s grace.  

This is not to say that numbers don’t matter. It is a great sign of encouraging godliness if lots of people in a church gather for prayer. It is a great comfort for a sick person to know lots of people are praying for them. So in one sense, when it comes to prayer, the more the merrier. 

But marshalling the numbers doesn’t place God under any obligation. His responses to prayer are not dependent on statistics, or on the loud enthusiasm of those praying. Being part of a very wide fellowship circle, part of a large church, having a public reputation, does not get us to the head of the queue. When it comes to prayer, God doesn’t play the numbers game. 

Blessings

Hope 103.2 is proudly supported by

David