Answer:
Why
pray?
Why
pray
when God is already in perfect control of everything?
Why
pray
when God knows what we are going to ask before we ask
it?
(1) Prayer is a form of serving
God (Luke 2:36-38). We
pray
because God commands us to
pray
(Philippians 4:6-7).
(2) Prayer is exemplified for us
by Christ and the early church (Mark 1:35; Acts 1:14;
2:42; 3:1; 4:23-31; 6:4; 13:1-3). If Jesus thought it
was worthwhile to
pray,
we should also.
(3) God intends for prayer to be the means of obtaining
His solutions in a number of situations:
a) Preparation for major decisions (Luke 6:12-13)
b) Overcoming demonic barriers in lives (Matthew
17:14-21)
c) The gathering of workers for the spiritual
harvest (Luke 10:2)
d) The gaining of strength to overcome temptation
(Matthew 26:41)
e) The means of strengthening others spiritually
(Ephesians 6:18-19)
(4) We have God's promise that our prayers are not in
vain, even if we don't receive specifically what we
asked for (Matthew 6:6; Romans 8:26-27).
(5) He has promised that when we ask for things that are
in accordance with His will, He will give us what we ask
for (1 John 5:14-15).
Sometimes He delays His answers according to His wisdom
and for our benefit. In these situations, we are to be
diligent and persistent in prayer (Matthew 7:7; Luke
18:1-8). Prayer should not be seen as our means of
getting God to do our will on earth, but rather as a
means of getting God's will done on earth. God’s wisdom
far exceeds our own.
In situations for which we do not
know specifically what God's will is, prayer is a means
of discerning God’s will. If Peter had not asked for
Jesus to call for him to come out of the boat and onto
the water, he would have missed that opportunity
(Matthew 14:28-29). If the Syrian woman with the
demon-influenced daughter had not prayed to Christ, her
daughter would not have been made whole (Mark
7:26-30). If the blind man outside of Jericho would not
have called out to Christ, he would have still been
blind (Luke 18:35-43). God has said that often we go
without because we do not ask (James 4:2). In one sense,
prayer is like sharing the gospel with people. We do not
know who will respond to the message of the gospel until
we share it. It is the same with prayer: we will never
see the results of answered prayer until we
pray.
A lack of prayer demonstrates the
a lack of faith and a lack of trust in God’s Word. We
pray
to demonstrate our faith in God, that He will do as He
has promised in His Word, and will bless our lives
abundantly more than we could ask or hope for (Ephesians
3:20). Prayer is our primary means of seeing God work in
others' lives. Because it is our means of "plugging
into" God's power, it is our means of defeating a foe
and his army (Satan and his army) that we are powerless
to overcome by ourselves. Therefore, may God find us
often before His throne, for we have a High Priest in
heaven who can identify with all that we go through
(Hebrews 4:15-16). We have His promise that the fervent
prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much (James
5:16-18). May God glorify His name in our lives as we
believe in Him enough to come to Him often in prayer.
