Prayer - Having prayer in your life gives you five distinctive advantages

Having prayer in your life gives you five distinctive advantages:

1. Prayer changes your circumstances. Matthew 7:8 "For if everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks the door will be opened." James 4:2 "You desire but you do not have, so you kill. You covet but you do not get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God." The most obvious benefit to prayer is that prayer changes things.Sadly, one of the biggest hindrances to believing that prayer changes circumstances is our short-term memory. Even after we have seen how God has answered our prayers, we tend to forget the next time we are passing through something. One way to combat this is writing your prayer requests and answers. My cell leader, Mayra Cortes, gave me a journal so that I could jot down my prayers, answers, dreams given to me by God, interpretation, etc. 
2. Prayer mends relationships: You can look at prayer as follows:
1. It's like a healing ointment that you can apply to open wounds of torn and broken relationships. When you pray, pray about this situation; be open to God about it and then let God work in the situation you are praying about. Sometimes we get frustrated and say God is not doing anything but many times it's because we won't let Him. We want things to be done instantly on our time and not in God's timing. Be patient and allow God to work in the situation
2. Humble - a pride buster. Many people do not like this word. You humble yourself to God when you pray, saying: I need your help because I can't solve this one on my own. This act of humility can spill over and actually make it easier to deal with the other person(s) and be open to a resolution to the problem.
3. Being humble and praying brings people together when they mutually submit to a higher Authority. So if you and the other person are willing to pray about the situation, this will break down a major barrier to solving the problem.
3. Prayer helps you physically - I can testify to that! Prayer can make a tangible difference in your physical health. The Bible offers many examples of God's healing of people's physical ailments when people prayed and I often hear of present-day stories of healing. Over the past 20 years, these accounts of being backed up with medical research studies on the effectiveness of prayer and physical healing, suggesting that prayer can and indeed have a positive impact and those being prayed for.
4. Prayer helps you emotionally. When you think of healing, physical healing may be the first thing that comes to mind. But the Gospels give many examples of Jesus' emotional and spiritual healing of people. Many people 
    today live with painful memories from the past that can enslave and rule their lives, even in ways that they don't consciously realize. Through prayer, God can free you from the bondage of memories and past sins and provide a release in such a way that they no longer become a dominating force in your life. 
5. Prayer changes you. Perhaps the greatest irony of prayer is that when you truly open to God's answer, you - not the circumstances - are often what changes. Just as I'm discovering that God does engineer circumstances, He also uses circumstances to change me. Although the discovery may be a surprise, it really shouldn't be that unexpected. The God of the Bible makes it clear that He is most interested in how people are being transformed on the inside, because those changes are eternal. 

Healed by a touch

A term often used to describe someone who is especially diligent in prayer