Program Transcript
Episode 17: The Practical Power of Prayer
Heather M R Olsen
Greetings, Friends.
A fickle practice of a believer is an active prayer life.
I say fickle because if you really think about it, a myriad of questions come to mind, like:
- Does God care about everything?
- What does prayer do for us?
- Does God answer back?
- Or should we pray to Jesus instead
- Can we change God’s mind?
- Does He reward the faithful with yes?
- What about the faithful who are experiencing illness, disease, death, devastation?
- Did they pray wrong?
- What if we don’t get what we want?
New believers or if you aren’t a believer (I like to say, yet), I don’t want you to live in the realm of doubt.
Consequently, I am bringing in 2 girlfriends who are avid Bible study-ers, cheerleaders in the faith, encouragers in this podcast, and really, life givers to me.
Again, this is new, but we are going to chew up the practice of Prayer in our lives and explore what God has to say about it in His Word.
Jodi: She is a physical therapist, athletic trainer, and owner of the newly opened sports medicine orthopedic practice entitled Aspire Health.
She is also the Program Manager for Family Housing Network, a non-profit agency that aids in housing homeless families.
Jodi is a wife, a mom to 4 boys, and balances adventuring in the mountains of CO and the lakes in MN.
Most importantly, Jodi reports that, “I am someone who is deep in the daily struggle, yet loves the Lord fiercely. Because my daily mess, and the chaos in my mind, I depend on the gifts only He can provide!”
Kristin: She loves Jesus, her husband, and their 3 boys.
She is a farm gal from Iowa who grew up knowing and loving Jesus, following the beautiful examples set by her parents, and her grandmas.
She attended a small Christian liberal arts college in Iowa, and received her master’s degree in Minnesota, teaching elementary school throughout.
She manages her family household, manages investment properties, is a scrapbooking consultant plus a leader in Mom’s in Prayer and Bible Study Fellowship.
Both Jodi and Kristin are giants in the Faith and avid prayer partners of mine.
Please welcome both Jodi & Kristin as we hash out prayer.
Kristin, Jodi, welcome! Thank you for being here. I’m excited to talk a bit and really unpack what prayer is.
I’m a verbal processer and wanted to process the act of “prayer” out loud with friends.
As always, this is a huge topic, and we will just scratch the surface, but we may also need to circle back to prayer another time. Let’s begin with,
- What is prayer?
- Why do we pray?
- What does the Bible say about prayer?
Merriam-Webster: Prayer: a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God.
More simply? Prayer is talking with God.
Who can pray? Anyone.
There are many acronyms out in the stratosphere to guide us in how to pray:
ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication
PRAY: Pray, Repent, Ask, Yield
ASK: Ask, Seek, Knocki
Jodi, Kristin, let’s get started.
(Please listen to the podcast to hear their response. Their researched Bible verses are below).
The following questions are addressed in the verses provided!
- What is prayer?
- Why do we pray?
- What does the Bible say about prayer?
- Does God care?
- What does prayer do for us?
- Does God answer back?
- Or should we pray to Jesus instead of God?
- And what about the Holy Spirit?
- What did Jesus model with prayer?
- Does God care about everything?
- What does prayer do for us?
- Does God answer back?
- Or should we pray to Jesus instead
Prayer is about RELATIONSHIP: Prayer with God, like a human friendship and communication with a friend, is about relationship. One can’t have relationship without conversing with a friend. How can one have relationship without spending time and conversing with God?
Other questions: (Again see the verses below and some highlights of our conversation.)
- Can we change God’s mind?
- Does He reward the faithful with yes?
- What about the faithful who are experiencing illness, disease, death, devastation?
- Did they pray wrong?
- What if we don’t get what we want? (unanswered prayer)
Some nuggets from the podcast:
When we pray and submit to God, we can align ourselves with His sovereign will.
Our goal as believers is to reflect Jesus’ glory.
The imprecatory Psalms are never read at church. They are written by angry psalmists, honest and raw, some violent.
I see the Holy Spirit as the Divine Translator. When we don’t know what to say, the Spirit takes our groans and emotions and translates them for us to the LORD.
The sanctification process is our journey to becoming more like Jesus.
I was talking to a friend recently and I mentioned that “I told God…” She said, “Hold the phone! How did that go for you?” We got a good laugh out of that!
Recently there was a sports team on tv that thanked Jesus for their turnaround and win. Does Jesus care about a semi-final football game? (see Jodi’s verses about God wanting to hear everything from us!)
Kristin, Jodi and I have a group of gals named, Anam Cara, meaning “soul sisters.” We text emergency prayer requests to each other frequently, plus praises and answered prayer. It’s a great support group!
When I was growing up, my mom, brothers and I would often have group bedtime prayer.
My little brother would tell God everything from having peas for dinner to stubbing his toe. My older brother and I were not very kind and would sigh loudly and incessantly until he finished. I know full well that God loved his prayers.
Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
When it seems that God is silent, we need to be reminded that He is still answering. We are often looking at life from our own perspective as a human rather than His Divine and Eternal perspective.
When I feel like I should know more than I do, I need to reset my view of God.
Chatting with my son Garrett, he reminded me that, “There is a very human tendency to expect an answer [from God] verbally.” He continued, “But God doesn’t fit Himself into our expectations”
God reminded Isaiah in Isaiah 55:8, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
I also love the reminder in,
Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
I also like to focus on God’s attributes to reset in my mind, who He is.
When I have insomnia, I remember what one teacher had said, rather than count sheep, she would name attributes of God in alphabetical order. Recently, I got STUCK on D. I couldn’t think of anything, and I thought that this practice kept me awake longer rather than soothe me to sleep. Seriously, D- I felt DUMB. (The next morning I remembered: Divine, Dominant).
Yet one huge attribute of God’s that He actually uses to describe Himself – and it’s throughout the Hebrew Bible- is “chesed” חסד. There is no one word translation in English. This is one of the most important aspects of Gods character and it’s repeated over and over again ii – 126 times in the Psalms alone. (Please see the Shalom and Chesed podcast!)
In some Protestant liturgies and often in scripture, “chesed” is translated as, “abounding in steadfast love.”
We can read in
Exodus 34:6, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
This verse is God describing Himself to Moses.
At times, we are given the privilege of looking back and seeing God’s provision and plan.
John 3:16 God loved the world.
1 Timothy 4:10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.
I like to reflect on the Passover seder poem “Dayenu,” which means, “enough for us” or “it would have been enough for us.”
Dayenu
This poem is a reminder to the Israelites/Jewish people about all God had done from them in their escape from Egypt and wandering through the desert.
There are 15 stanzas , here are a couple: If He had split the sea for us – dayenu
If He had led us through on dry land – dayenu
If He had drowned our oppressors – dayenu
If He had provided for our needs in the wilderness for 40 years – dayenu
If He had fed us manna – dayenu
Recently I gave some Bible study friends the exercise to write their personal Dayenu’s,
“enough for us.”
- If I only lived in a one-bedroom apartment.
- If I didn’t have any children.
- If I was an orphan.
It was difficult and really, terrifying that regardless of our difficulty in life here on earth, it would be enough for us, or for me, with God as my Father.
Our daughter was born on Christmas day. Consequently we most often host the extended family gathering. Our table prayer is set up as all of us standing in some sort of trapezoid, holding hands. I lay out the expectations that I will begin the prayer, and Karl, next to me will close the prayer. When I am done, I squeeze the hand to my right. I remind the family that a prayer can be a short sentence or phrase, “thank you,” is a prayer. Delightfully there is rarely a family member who doesn’t say anything. It’s beautiful and sets up the expectation that we can all pray. It doesn’t have to be long, seminary-worthy words!
Kristin, Jodi, any closing thoughts?
Thanks for joining me!
**Heather!
©2025 Heather M R Olsen, Illumination: Hebrew Insights. All rights reserved. 
Jodi’s biblical research and references:
Mark 12:30-31 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Matthew 8:2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.
Acts 12:1-19 Peter miraculously breaks out of prison.
Matthew 18:19-20 Truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they as for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name there I am with them.
Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Genesis 4:26 At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.
Romans 8:34b Christ Jesus who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Matthew 4:4 Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that come from the mouth of God.
Matthew 6:9 This is how you should pray: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, power, and glory. Forever and ever. Amen.
Phil 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
1 Thess 5:16 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstance; for this is God’s will in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for ALL the Lord’s people.
Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we need of him.
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. AS the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.
Matthew 26:39-43 My Father if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.
Romans 3:23-24 For everyone has sinned, we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in his sight.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so no one can boast.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Kristin’s biblical research and references:
What does the Bible say about prayer?
Genesis 4:26 1st-time prayer is in the Bible.
James 5:16b The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all of the Lord’s people.
Philemon 4 I always thank God as I remember you in my prayers.
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 27:51 At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
(WE HAVE ACCESS TO GOD.)
Psalm 145:18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
Psalm 141:2 May your prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in ALL circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Revelation 8:3-4 Prayers of people- aroma pleasing to God.
Jesus’ example of prayer: Garden of Gethsemane
Matthew 26:36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.
Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
DEMONSTRATES OBEDIENCE.
Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
John 15:5 I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
John 17:1 Jesus prays for himself, his disciples, and future believers
John 17:20 My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me and through their message.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Romans 8:26 The Spirit helps us in our weakness when we do not know what we ought to pray for. The spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words to express.
Matthew 6:5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. But when you pray, go in your room, close the door and pray to your Father.
i Bible Study Fellowship acronym.
ii John Mark Comer. God Has a Name. Zondervan, 2017, pg 194.
