Does prayer work?
20 Oct '12 14:55In Uruguay, a man named Luis was far from happy. Drug addiction, spiritism, idol worship, alcohol abuse—these were some of the things that made his life chaotic. Finally, Luis, completely frustrated, became an atheist. A friend gave him the book Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation? This resulted in brief contact with Jehovah’s Witnesses, but Luis soon returned to alcohol and drugs. When, in a moment of great anguish, he found himself sitting in a pit full of garbage, he prayed, offering his prayer to “the father of Jesus Christ,” since he was not sure about God’s name.
He asked God to show him if there was any reason for his being in the world. “The very next day,” reports Luis, “an acquaintance gave me a book that he had no more use for. Its title? Revelation—Its Grand Climax At Hand!” The book helped him to answer his question. Luis prayed again for help in finding the religion that would show him how to serve God. What a surprise! The doorbell rang, and standing outside were two of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Luis immediately started to study the Bible with them. He made rapid progress and now feels blessed to be a baptized Witness. He lives a clean life and helps others also to find a purpose for their lives. For him, the words of Psalm 65:2 have come true: “O Hearer of prayer, even to you people of all flesh will come.” 98' Watchtower 1/1 page 5.
Jehovah has blessed Kingdom preachers with many joyful experiences. Steve and Gaye, for example, went out in door-to-door activity one cold, wintry day. At their first door, they started a Bible study with a depressed elderly man. Within two weeks he attended a meeting at the Kingdom Hall, where they happened to mention how kind he had been to invite them in on their first visit. “I did not invite you in because I was nice,” he replied. “I invited you in because I knew you were coming. I had been praying for help for three days.” He is now attending the meetings regularly and is progressing toward baptism. 1990 Yearbook page 19.
A young woman hired the services of a local newspaper to advertise the sale of an amulet. The advertisement referred to it as a ‘medieval amulet that is very powerful.’ One of Jehovah’s Witnesses noticed the ad. She decided to call the telephone number given and talk to the woman about the source of the amulet’s alleged power. A discussion on the Bible’s view of demonic activity followed. The young woman with the amulet revealed that just one day earlier, she had prayed to God for help with her problems with demons. The Witness made arrangements for another discussion over the telephone. 95' Watchtower 1/1 page 31.
A young woman in India was in serious need of comfort. Married at 21, she had two children. But soon after the birth of the second child, her husband died. Suddenly, at the age of 24, she was a widow with a 2-month-old daughter and a 22-month-old son. No wonder she needed comfort! Where could she turn? One night, in deep distress, she prayed, saying, “Heavenly Father, please comfort me through your Word.”
The next morning, she had a visitor. He was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. That day, his house-to-house ministry had been difficult because few had opened the door to him. Tired and rather discouraged, he was about to go home, but somehow he felt impelled to visit just one more house. That was where he met the young widow. She invited him in and accepted a publication that explained the Bible. The woman drew great comfort from reading that publication and from her discussions with the Witness. She learned of God’s promise to raise the dead and of God’s Kingdom, which will soon make the earth a paradise. Most important, she came to know and love the one true God, Jehovah, who had answered her prayer.
Watchtower 2000 3/1 page 5,6.
An example showing the power of prayer is that of a couple who live in the South African city of Johannesburg. On a Saturday night in 1996, Dennis and Carol’s marriage reached the breaking point. As a last resort, they decided to pray for help, which they repeatedly did until late into the night. The next morning, at 11 o’clock, two of Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked at their door. Dennis answered the door and told them to wait until he called his wife. Dennis then warned Carol that if she invited the Witnesses in, it might be hard to get rid of them. Carol reminded Dennis that they had been praying for help and said that this might be God’s answer to their prayers. So the Witnesses were invited in, and a Bible study was started in the book Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life. Dennis and Carol were thrilled with what they learned. That same afternoon, they attended their first meeting at the local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. By applying the knowledge they had learned from the Bible, Dennis and Carol found solutions to their marital problems. They are now happy, baptized praisers of Jehovah and regularly share their Bible-based beliefs with their neighbors.
Watchtower 2000 3/1 page 5,6
In Honduras a missionary sister who was struggling to learn Spanish entered an office building and placed magazines with the receptionist. Then the office phone rang, and the missionary sister thought that the receptionist invited her to sit down, so she did. She had misunderstood. The receptionist had asked her to leave. Meanwhile, a woman in an office nearby had been praying for help to break off an immoral relationship with a married man and to learn the acceptable way to worship God. When she heard the voice of our sister in the reception area, she believed that her prayer was being answered. However, when she heard the receptionist ask the sister to leave, she feared that the missionary would be gone before she could speak with her. However, the missionary later said: “Because of misunderstanding the receptionist, I was still there when the woman rushed in to talk with me. Both of us are convinced that this was Jehovah’s direction.” Years earlier, the woman had read publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and now she decided to give full attention to spiritual matters. She has since broken off her relationship with the married man and is studying the Bible and attending meetings regularly. 2004 Yearbook page 53.
Here is a very, very small amount of examples that prayer does work. Some here scoff at the thought of a God and one that would actually answer prayers. There are millions of examples of the truth of this fact.
He asked God to show him if there was any reason for his being in the world. “The very next day,” reports Luis, “an acquaintance gave me a book that he had no more use for. Its title? Revelation—Its Grand Climax At Hand!” The book helped him to answer his question. Luis prayed again for help in finding the religion that would show him how to serve God. What a surprise! The doorbell rang, and standing outside were two of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Luis immediately started to study the Bible with them. He made rapid progress and now feels blessed to be a baptized Witness. He lives a clean life and helps others also to find a purpose for their lives. For him, the words of Psalm 65:2 have come true: “O Hearer of prayer, even to you people of all flesh will come.” 98' Watchtower 1/1 page 5.
Jehovah has blessed Kingdom preachers with many joyful experiences. Steve and Gaye, for example, went out in door-to-door activity one cold, wintry day. At their first door, they started a Bible study with a depressed elderly man. Within two weeks he attended a meeting at the Kingdom Hall, where they happened to mention how kind he had been to invite them in on their first visit. “I did not invite you in because I was nice,” he replied. “I invited you in because I knew you were coming. I had been praying for help for three days.” He is now attending the meetings regularly and is progressing toward baptism. 1990 Yearbook page 19.
A young woman hired the services of a local newspaper to advertise the sale of an amulet. The advertisement referred to it as a ‘medieval amulet that is very powerful.’ One of Jehovah’s Witnesses noticed the ad. She decided to call the telephone number given and talk to the woman about the source of the amulet’s alleged power. A discussion on the Bible’s view of demonic activity followed. The young woman with the amulet revealed that just one day earlier, she had prayed to God for help with her problems with demons. The Witness made arrangements for another discussion over the telephone. 95' Watchtower 1/1 page 31.
A young woman in India was in serious need of comfort. Married at 21, she had two children. But soon after the birth of the second child, her husband died. Suddenly, at the age of 24, she was a widow with a 2-month-old daughter and a 22-month-old son. No wonder she needed comfort! Where could she turn? One night, in deep distress, she prayed, saying, “Heavenly Father, please comfort me through your Word.”
The next morning, she had a visitor. He was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. That day, his house-to-house ministry had been difficult because few had opened the door to him. Tired and rather discouraged, he was about to go home, but somehow he felt impelled to visit just one more house. That was where he met the young widow. She invited him in and accepted a publication that explained the Bible. The woman drew great comfort from reading that publication and from her discussions with the Witness. She learned of God’s promise to raise the dead and of God’s Kingdom, which will soon make the earth a paradise. Most important, she came to know and love the one true God, Jehovah, who had answered her prayer.
Watchtower 2000 3/1 page 5,6.
An example showing the power of prayer is that of a couple who live in the South African city of Johannesburg. On a Saturday night in 1996, Dennis and Carol’s marriage reached the breaking point. As a last resort, they decided to pray for help, which they repeatedly did until late into the night. The next morning, at 11 o’clock, two of Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked at their door. Dennis answered the door and told them to wait until he called his wife. Dennis then warned Carol that if she invited the Witnesses in, it might be hard to get rid of them. Carol reminded Dennis that they had been praying for help and said that this might be God’s answer to their prayers. So the Witnesses were invited in, and a Bible study was started in the book Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life. Dennis and Carol were thrilled with what they learned. That same afternoon, they attended their first meeting at the local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. By applying the knowledge they had learned from the Bible, Dennis and Carol found solutions to their marital problems. They are now happy, baptized praisers of Jehovah and regularly share their Bible-based beliefs with their neighbors.
Watchtower 2000 3/1 page 5,6
In Honduras a missionary sister who was struggling to learn Spanish entered an office building and placed magazines with the receptionist. Then the office phone rang, and the missionary sister thought that the receptionist invited her to sit down, so she did. She had misunderstood. The receptionist had asked her to leave. Meanwhile, a woman in an office nearby had been praying for help to break off an immoral relationship with a married man and to learn the acceptable way to worship God. When she heard the voice of our sister in the reception area, she believed that her prayer was being answered. However, when she heard the receptionist ask the sister to leave, she feared that the missionary would be gone before she could speak with her. However, the missionary later said: “Because of misunderstanding the receptionist, I was still there when the woman rushed in to talk with me. Both of us are convinced that this was Jehovah’s direction.” Years earlier, the woman had read publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and now she decided to give full attention to spiritual matters. She has since broken off her relationship with the married man and is studying the Bible and attending meetings regularly. 2004 Yearbook page 53.
Here is a very, very small amount of examples that prayer does work. Some here scoff at the thought of a God and one that would actually answer prayers. There are millions of examples of the truth of this fact.
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