Power in Prayer. Really?

I've been thinking a lot lately about a trend among Christians concerning prayer. Seems we've come to believe that when it comes to prayer, the "power" is in the numbers. We have prayer chains, and prayer groups, and whenever there is a real crisis we send out prayer requests to all our friends, family, and acquaintances and beseech them to add us to their prayer chains, etc.

Thanks to the Internet we can get our requests to massive amounts of people through email, social networks, even blogs. Do we believe that the more people we have praying for something the more likely God is to grant our desire? I think we do. You may have heard it as I have, "Wasn't that amazing how that worked out?", "Well, we had so many people praying..."

I suppose that if all three of my children came to me with a request I would be more likely to grant it than if just one came, at least the first time they did this. Once I became aware that their coalition was a means to an end, I would probably be more apt to deny their request. But then again, that's because I am a human.

So, what about God? Does He honor our numbers? Is He more apt to answer the masses? I see in James 5:14, "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." and James 5:16, "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." ESV I am hard pressed to find scriptural precedence for assembling a mass of "Prayer Warriors".

What is prayer? As the catechism says, "Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies."

If God is Sovereign, as I believe He most certainly is, then why pray at all? Because God has ordained that what comes to pass will be in response to prayer. He has chosen prayer as an avenue for His Grace. He not only ordains what will happen but also how it will happen. I think He involves us in prayer for two reasons, first, so He can show Himself strong on our behalf, and second, so He will receive Glory for answered prayer.

So I am torn, its hard for me to see God moving mightily on my behalf as I intercede for someone, along with 200 other people, but the more people that participate in prayer, the broader God's Glory will be spread... providing we look past the "praying" to the One who answered the prayer.

Power in prayer? I don't think so. Prayer as an avenue for an Almighty God to move on our behalf? Absolutely!