Prayer is theology in action. Prayer is a means of grace in that the Holy Spirit moves in our heart so that we may cry out to God. Prayer is prevenient grace in that when we don’t know how or what to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us (Rom. 8:26). Likewise, we pray according to what and how we believe. If we believe in error, or practice wrongly, that will have a negative effect in how we pray (Jas. 4:3). Even so, God’s prevenient grace is evident in that faith is a gift of God to unbelievers and believers. We pray as an exercise of faith, and sometimes we pray when we have little to no faith, but God graciously responds (Mark 9:24).
The Lutheran theologian Gustaf Aulen speaks of “militant prayer,” a phrase that nicely corresponds to the Pentecostal notion of spiritual warfare. Prayer is engaging in three types of warfare. First, we war against ourselves. This is where we cry out, “Not my will, but yours!” (Luke 22:42). In prayer we are being conformed to the will of God and the image of Christ. Second, we war against the spiritual forces of darkness (Eph. 6:12). This warfare is the practice of protest – resisting evil in our world. Here we echo the words of the Lord’s prayer – “Your kingdom come… deliver us from evil.” Third, we war with God. We see this in the story of Job, in Jacob’s wrestling with God (Genesis 32:24), and in Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The Church of God resolution on prayer (1990) suggest that prayer is a means of grace in that men and women are saved, sanctified, and Spirit-baptized in times of “great prayer.” Also, a world in trouble can be delivered through the prayers of the saints.
In respect to prayer for healing, we pray because we believe that God is compassionate and can be moved by our cries for help. We pray that we may protest the disease, that we may resist death. To pray for healing is to cry out, “Deliver us from evil!”
I’ve had several recent conversations about people deconstructing their faith and falling into apostasy often because they can’t make sense of conflicting ideas. My faith is not challenged by ideology. I’m not in conflict with the evolution/creation debate – there is hermeneutical room for dialogue. I am not challenged by the problems with the transmission of Scripture – I hold to the infallibility and authority of Scripture in spite of knowing that the manuscripts can be problematic. However, living life and witnessing suffering has challenged my faith often. Loving my autistic grandson and praying for his future has challenged my faith. Like the father of the demonized son, I cry out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).
God’s will is that all who believe in Christ shall be glorified. We are predestined unto glorification (Ro. 8:30; Eph. 1:5, 11). But that does not mean that God’s will is fixed in even the smallest detail. Scripture testifies to a God who can be moved. God’s transcendence of time and space, and his omniscience, implies that God is aware of alternatives, and responds to human prayer in ways that do not conflict with God’s predestined plan. Therefore, we cry out for healing trusting in God’s compassion. If God can be moved, then it is appropriate for us to ask that God move to heal.
