"Power in Prayer," or "Power of God through Prayer"

I often hear people say that there is "power in prayer." I think it is better to think in terms of the object of our prayers, God. We can say words haphazardly, and without much forethought, or we can actually think rightly about what we are praying about. Yet, the power is not in the praying. It comes from God. Our faith is placed in God, not necessarily on how, how much, or what words we pray.

Is prayer important? I think most of us would answer 'yes'. Yet, when we look at our lives, we often are guilty of not spending quality and quantity time with God in prayer. This is detrimental to our lives. I've been reading again Bill Hybels' book, Too Busy Not to Pray: Slowing Down to Be with God. He reminds us that "Prayerless people cut themselves off from God's prevailing power, and the frequent result is the familiar feeling of being overwhelmed, overrun, beaten down, pushed around, defeated" (13). Perhaps we don't pray more because our faith is in our prayers instead of on God. The Apostle Peter reminds us, "Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

There is much I don't understand about prayer, but I do know, both from Scripture and from personal experience, that God is able and willing to come to our rescue and he does answer our prayers. He does this for His glory, for His Kingdom and to give us the delight of our hearts. But, let us place our faith and trust on God, and not our praying.