Prayer Changes Nothing

I think it was Donald Grey Barnhouse who shocked his congregation with these words, "Prayer changes nothing." The words serve to correct a "name it/claim it" approach to prayer where God is obligated to act in the way our prayers prescribe. However, Barnhouse could not have believed the words himself, for God is all about change and often about prayer. "When you pray..." Jesus began, assuming His disciples would do so.

So what's the truth about prayer? I remember reading an essay by C.S. Lewis when I was in college entitled, "On Petitionary Prayer." In it Lewis piles up verses seeming to suggest that God promises to give us what we ask for. Then alongside, he piles up verses stating conditions for answered prayer. He concludes with this question: "Tell me reverend fathers, how shall I pray this night?" It comforts me to know such a light as Lewis struggled with the answer.

For myself, the answer came when preparing for a devotional at a men's breakfast. The text was James 1.5: "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask of God..." I was struck that out of all the things James might have urged in the way of prayer requests, he chose wisdom alone. This led me to re-read the story of Solomon to whom God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." His request:  "Give your servant a discerning heart..." 

My takeaway from these two scriptures is this: pray not for outcomes but for outlook. This has changed the way I look as situations and my prayers. Believing that God wants to use situations to change me, to make me more wise, I pray that He would change my outlook on them. Of course, there are notable exceptions like prayer for healing or salvation. But as a rule, I pray for outlook not for outcomes.

What do you think?