Why Pray?

Why do we pray? I mean, if God is God, and He is sovereign… my prayers aren’t going to make a difference anyway right? It’s not like my small little prayers are going to change the mind of God! Whatever God has planned is going to happen whether I like it or not, so why bother? Why Pray?

And if so, then how do I pray? In boldness and confidence? In the name of Jesus? In faith?

I have wrestled with these questions in my head for years. It’s hard to know what to pray and how. I’ve been told before, if my faith was stronger I would see God answer my prayers instantly. All I had to do was believe God would do it and it would be done.  I could go before the Lord in boldness and confidence as His child and lay my request before Him and He would work miracles. But what if nothing happens? What then? Does that mean my faith is too weak, or my prayers are too little to be heard? Because of these questions, I went through a season where I no longer knew how to pray and it shook my faith.

There is so much to be said on this topic, but the point I would like to focus on today is our heart in prayer. The truth is, God is indeed sovereign and He will work out His plan no matter what. So again, why pray?  What I came to realize through my season of doubt and confusion is prayer should not be a selfish act we do. It’s not meant for us to pour out our own will before God, so we can see Him work out whatever we ask.  Prayer is to align our hearts with God’s will. Prayer is for us to have communication and fellowship with our Heavenly Father. It’s to bring us closer to Him in an intimate relationship. And THAT is why we pray, to bring our hearts closer to God.

It’s a command from the Lord to pray, even Jesus prayed and He’s Jesus! I’ve heard the parallel of our relationship with Christ being as a married couple. I love this picture because it’s a wonderful reminder of how we should be with our Lord. I get so excited to see my husband at the end of the day. I just want to sit down and tell him everything about my day and hear all about his. Just as I think about my husband all day long and can’t wait to talk with him, even more so should I be with my Savior! We pray because it’s how we talk and spend time with the Lord. What kind of marriage would it be if we never spoke?

“Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 puts it very plainly. Just three simple words that could change your life. If we all followed this command and humbled ourselves in prayer DAILY,  I believe we would see God work in ways we’ve never seen before! And the beautiful thing is, we don’t have to wait till the end of the day to pour our hearts out to Him. He is with us always, and can hear our prayers anytime, anywhere. 

“If My people who are called by My name

will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face,

and turn from their wicked ways,

then I will hear from heaven,

and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

2 Chronicles 7:14

Hey wait! This can’t be the end… there’s so many questions left unanswered!...  As I said before, there is a lot to be said on this topic so, for the next few blogs, I will be tackling the topic of prayer. I hope you join me as I walk through more of the questions from the beginning of this blog and dive deeper into God’s Word. Look for my next blog coming soon!