Probably the biggest problem we face as humans is the fact that we are humans. As people, we are confined to a very short time period compared to the history of the entire world. The Bible compares the human life to ‘a mist that appears for a little while then vanishes’.
As humans, we also have the dilemma of living inside our skin. Because we have skin we can’t float everywhere, we can only travel at a certain speed (unless you’re Usain Bolt), we can’t be everywhere at once, etc.
I can only imagine Jesus’ reaction when God told Him he had to save the world as a human. It would be as if someone told you to rob a bank blind-folded. As if it wasn’t already going to be extremely difficult, there’s an added little surprise in the equation. (And just to clarify, I am in no way trying to compare the crucifixion with robbing a bank).
So Jesus goes to earth with the dilemma of humanity holding Him back from being God in all His glory. And I think the worst thing Jesus could have done were if He completely ignored the fact that He was human. For example, as a human Jesus would need to breathe. Though God may not need to breathe because breathing is a very ‘human’ kind of a thing to do, Jesus would have needed to. And as the Savior of the world, Jesus needed to be as close to God as possible
For this reason Jesus fasted. God would never need to fast because He doesn’t eat in the first place. It’s also for this reason Jesus prayed. For many of us it makes no sense that Jesus would pray. Why would Jesus need to pray if He was God? Because He was also human.
Jesus recognized that He had to use his humanity in order to grow deeper in his spirituality. And if Jesus needed to pray, how much more do we as humans who aren’t also God need to pray?
So not only is prayer absolutely necessary in order for people to function the way they’re supposed to, prayer is powerful.
As a Christian, think back to the most amazing moment in your life: the moment you accepted salvation. That gift of salvation was not given after a few papers were filled out, but through a desperate plea for Christ to come through for us. It was because of that prayer where God most literally grabbed you out of hell and brought you into eternal life. And if prayer can have such an impacting effect on our first day as Christians, imagine how much that power increases the more we know, understand, and obey God.
So let us pray because we need to. Knowing that our prayers not only can change lives, they have.
- Evan Smith
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