4. Prayer That Changes Us

Prayer That Changes Us isn't about trying to be better so God will answer you. It's about discovering how communion with God transforms your desires, renews your mind, and aligns your heart with His until you become the answer to your own prayers. 

Transcript

Welcome to The Power of Prayer with Aneel Arana. This is a series about praying with authority, moving mountains, and seeing breakthroughs.

Today, we're exploring prayer that changes us.

Have you ever been in the middle of a prayer battle—interceding for healing, fighting for breakthrough, binding and loosing with everything in you—and suddenly realized that something was changing inside you? Not the circumstances you were praying about, but you yourself. Your perspective shifted. Your peace increased. Your character grew stronger.

Over the past three weeks, we've built a powerful foundation. We've discovered where authority in prayer comes from and learned to exercise it. We've learned to speak directly to mountains in Jesus' name. We've seen how agreement multiplies everything exponentially. That's all about changing circumstances through prayer. But here's what most believers miss: prayer doesn't just change situations—it changes the person praying.

Many believers see prayer as a tool to get things from God. We pray to change our circumstances, solve our problems, meet our needs. And yes, prayer does all that. But if that's all you're getting from prayer, you're missing the greatest treasure.

Today we're exploring three transformative truths about prayer. First, we'll discover the true nature of what prayer is meant to accomplish. Second, we'll see how your identity is shaped through communion with God. And third, we'll learn practical ways to cultivate a prayer life that transforms you from the inside out.

Let me show you how prayer changes everything—starting with you.

PART 1: THE TRANSFORMATIVE NATURE OF PRAYER

Let's start with a question most believers answer wrong: What's the primary purpose of prayer?

If you're like most believers, you'd probably say prayer is about getting God to act—to heal, to provide, to intervene, to change circumstances. And we've spent three weeks showing you how to do exactly that—how to pray with authority, speak to mountains, and join in agreement for breakthrough.

But here's the thing—if you see prayer primarily as a tool to change external circumstances, you're seeing only half the picture. You're like someone who discovers a diamond mine and only collects the rocks on the surface.

Here's the revelation that shifts everything: prayer's primary purpose isn't transaction—it's transformation. It's not mainly about getting things from God. It's about becoming like God.

Think about this from Scripture. When Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai communing with God, what happened? Exodus 34:29 tells us, "When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD." He came down glowing. His time in God's presence physically transformed him.

Now Moses went up that mountain to get the Law—the tablets, the commandments, the instructions for the tabernacle. He got all of that. But he got something far more valuable—he was transformed by being in God's presence. And here's what's stunning: Moses didn't even know it had happened. Verse 29 says "he was not aware that his face was radiant."

That's how transformation through prayer works. You enter God's presence for one reason—maybe to intercede, to petition, to seek guidance—and you come out changed in ways you didn't even realize you needed.

Or think about the disciples. What set them apart wasn't their education, their skills, or their natural abilities. Acts 4:13 tells us, "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." That was their distinguishing characteristic—they had been with Him. Time in His presence had transformed them.

Here's what most believers do: we come to prayer with our shopping list. "God, heal this. God, fix that. God, provide this." We say "amen" and move on, wondering why the answer hasn't come yet. Meanwhile, God is saying, "I hear your requests, but what I really want is to change you through our time together."

Jesus taught this explicitly. In Matthew 6:6-7, He said, "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. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words."

Notice what Jesus emphasizes—not performance prayer in public, but intimate communion with your Father in secret. Not mechanical repetition, but genuine relationship. And here's the key: "Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." The reward isn't just getting what you asked for. The reward is the transformation that happens when you meet with God in secret.

The paradigm shift is this: prayer isn't primarily a mechanism for getting God to do things. Prayer is primarily a relationship that transforms who you are. And ironically, when you're transformed, you become far more effective at seeing circumstances change!

Watch how Jesus taught His disciples to pray. The Lord's Prayer starts with "Our Father"—relationship. It continues with "hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done"—alignment with God's purposes. Only then does it move to requests—"give us today our daily bread."

The order matters. Relationship first. Alignment second. Requests third. Why? Because the first two transform you into someone who can handle what you're asking for in the third.

Think about the times you've desperately wanted something, prayed for it intensely, and looking back now, you're grateful God didn't give it to you. Why? Because you weren't ready. You needed to be transformed first. Prayer does that transforming work.

The mistake most believers make is treating prayer like an ATM—insert request, receive answer, move on. But God designed prayer as a gym where your spiritual muscles grow, a classroom where your perspective shifts, a refining fire where your character is purified.

Yes, mountains move when you pray. Yes, circumstances change when you exercise authority. Yes, breakthrough comes when believers agree. We've established all that. But the greatest miracle isn't the mountain moving—it's who you become in the process of commanding it to move.

When you understand this, prayer stops being primarily a means to an end. Prayer becomes the end itself—because time with God transforms you into someone who looks more like Jesus, thinks more like Jesus, loves more like Jesus, responds more like Jesus.

PART 2: YOUR IDENTITY SHAPED THROUGH COMMUNION

Now that we understand prayer's transformative purpose, let me show you something remarkable about how your identity is actually shaped through communion with God.

We've talked about your position—seated with Christ in heavenly places. That's your legal standing, secured by grace. But there's a difference between your position and your character. Your position is instant. Your character develops progressively. And prayer is the primary laboratory where that development happens.

Here's what happens when you spend consistent time in God's presence: you start thinking differently. Your values shift. Your reactions change. Your desires transform. Not because you're trying harder or being more religious, but because you're becoming what you behold.

Let me paint a picture for you. Imagine a piece of iron sitting near a fire. At first, there's a clear distinction—the iron is cold and dark, the fire is hot and bright. But leave that iron in the fire, and something happens. The iron begins to glow. It becomes hot. Eventually, you can't tell where the fire ends and the iron begins. The iron hasn't become fire—it's still iron. But it has taken on the fire's properties.

That's what happens through prayer. You maintain your identity—you're still you. But you take on God's properties. His peace. His wisdom. His love. His perspective. His power. Not because you're trying to fake it, but because you've been with Him.

2 Corinthians 3:18 reveals this transformation: "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

See that? Contemplating—spending time beholding—transforms you progressively "with ever-increasing glory." Not instantly. Not magically. Progressively, through consistent communion with God.

Being with God in prayer carries three profound implications for your identity.

First, it means you develop spiritual discernment. You start seeing situations from God's perspective instead of merely from human viewpoint. What used to overwhelm you now seems manageable because you're viewing it from the throne room, not from ground level.

Second, it means your desires align with His desires. Psalm 37:4 promises, "Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Not because He grants whatever you want, but because delighting in Him transforms what you want. You begin desiring what He desires.

And third—this is crucial—it means you become more effective in prayer itself. The more time you spend with God, the more naturally you pray according to His will, the more faith rises in your heart, the more authority flows through your words.

This creates a beautiful cycle. Prayer transforms you, and transformation makes your prayers more effective, which leads to more breakthrough, which drives you deeper into prayer, which transforms you further.

Hebrews 4:16 tells us, "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." We've talked about the confidence—the authority, the access, the boldness. But notice where you're coming: to the throne of GRACE. Grace doesn't just forgive you. Grace transforms you. Every time you come to that throne, grace is actively working to change you.

And here's what I need you to understand: this transformation is secure because it's based on His work, not yours. You're not trying to manufacture change through willpower. You're exposing yourself to His presence, and His presence does what only His presence can do—it makes you more like Jesus.

Romans 12:2 instructs us, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." That word "transformed" is the Greek word "metamorphoo"—where we get "metamorphosis." It's the word for what happens when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Complete transformation from the inside out.

Prayer is the greenhouse where that metamorphosis happens. You enter as one person. You emerge as someone being progressively transformed into the image of Christ.

Your identity isn't just about your position in Christ—it's about who you're becoming through time with Christ. And prayer is the primary place where that becoming happens.

PART 3: CULTIVATING A PRAYER LIFE THAT TRANSFORMS

So we understand that prayer's primary purpose is transformation. We've seen how your identity is shaped through communion with God. Now let's talk about HOW you actually cultivate a prayer life that transforms you.

Over the past three weeks, we've focused on crisis prayer—the prayer that moves mountains, speaks to impossibilities, exercises authority over circumstances. That's vital. But if that's your only prayer mode, you're missing the deeper work God wants to do.

You need to move from crisis prayer to communion prayer. From always asking for things to sometimes just being with Him. From constantly speaking to occasionally listening. From urgency to intimacy.

Let me show you what this looks like in Scripture. Jesus Himself modeled it. Mark 1:35 tells us, "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."

Notice—Jesus wasn't facing a crisis at that moment. He hadn't just received bad news. He wasn't preparing for battle. He was simply spending time with the Father. Communion, not crisis. Relationship, not just requests.

And watch the result. After these times of communion, Jesus operated with incredible authority. He spoke and demons fled. He commanded and storms obeyed. He declared and dead people rose. The power flowed from the communion.

You can't sustain authority prayer without communion prayer. You'll burn out. You'll become mechanical. You'll start operating in human effort instead of divine power. But when communion is your foundation, authority becomes natural overflow.

Here are four practices that cultivate transformative prayer:

First, meditation on Scripture in prayer. This isn't just reading your Bible—it's bringing God's word into your prayer time and letting it shape your conversation with Him. Psalm 1:2-3 describes someone whose "delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers." That tree doesn't strain to produce fruit. It just draws from its source, and fruit comes naturally.

Take a passage of Scripture into your prayer time. Read it slowly. Ask God to reveal Himself through it. Let it guide your prayers. Watch how this begins to reshape your thinking, your perspective, your desires.

Second, intentional silence and listening. Most of our prayer is talking. We tell God what we need, what we think, what we want Him to do. But Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Stillness isn't inactivity—it's receptivity.

Build times of silence into your prayer. After you've poured out your heart, stop talking and listen. Not for an audible voice necessarily, but for impressions, for peace, for Scripture that comes to mind, for gentle promptings of the Spirit. God wants to speak, but He usually won't shout over your noise.

Third, persistent consistency. Luke 18 tells the parable of the persistent widow who kept coming to the judge until he gave her justice. Jesus concludes by asking, "Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?"

Transformation doesn't happen in one prayer session. It happens through the long obedience in the same direction. Showing up day after day, whether you feel like it or not, whether you see immediate results or not. The caterpillar doesn't become a butterfly overnight. But if it stays in the cocoon long enough, transformation is guaranteed.

But these practices come with conditions. Let me give you three essentials:

First, surrender your agenda. You can't come to prayer insisting God meet your expectations while refusing to let Him change you. Prayer that transforms requires you to say, "Your will, not mine. Your way, not mine. Your timing, not mine."

Second, maintain authenticity. Don't perform for God. He knows everything anyway. Be real about your doubts, your fears, your frustrations. Transformation happens in honesty, not in pretense.

Third, embrace the process. You will get frustrated. There will be dry seasons. You won't always feel God's presence. Keep showing up anyway. The caterpillar doesn't feel like it's transforming while it's in the cocoon. It just stays there. And transformation happens whether it feels like it or not.

Remember—transformation through prayer is guaranteed if you stay consistent. 2 Corinthians 3:18 promises you ARE being transformed. Present tense. Ongoing. Guaranteed. As long as you keep beholding.

CLOSING

Let me bring this all together. Prayer's primary purpose isn't just transaction—it's transformation. Through consistent communion with God, your identity is progressively shaped into the image of Christ. And when you cultivate practices like meditation, silence, confession, and consistency, transformation becomes inevitable.

This means prayer isn't just about getting breakthrough—though you will get breakthrough. It's not just about moving mountains—though mountains will move. It's not just about seeing answers—though answers will come. Prayer is about becoming the kind of person who can handle breakthrough, who naturally exercises authority, who walks in sustained victory.

So here's my challenge to you: identify one area where you've been praying for external change—maybe healing, provision, a relationship breakthrough. Keep praying for that. But add something new. Start spending time with God where you're not asking for anything. Just be with Him. Meditate on Scripture. Listen in silence. Let Him transform you in the process.

Because here's what happens: as you're being transformed, the very thing you were desperately praying about often resolves naturally—either God moves it, or you realize you don't need it the way you thought you did, or you become strong enough that the problem no longer controls you.

When believers finally understand that prayer changes them before it changes circumstances, everything shifts. You stop being desperate and start being transformed. You stop begging and start becoming. You stop striving and start abiding.

Next time, we're going to explore persistent prayer—how to keep praying when answers are delayed and breakthrough seems impossible.

Until then, let prayer change you.