Why Do We Pray?

When you think about prayer, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it something that is done in church before the pastor speaks? Or perhaps it is something you do before you eat a meal, or even something from your childhood that is long forgotten. Or is it something that is done at a point of desperation when nothing else seems to work? All these reactions and situations are a part of a believer’s life, but when you examine prayer, you will realize that prayer is so much more than these instances. Prayer should be viewed as an essential part of the Christian life. There are many ways prayer can play an active role in the life of the Christian. As we look at this critical characteristic of the Christian life, think about how you might change your mindset today.

The first question is how we should pray. In examining Scripture, we see that prayer is intended to be something personal and private. It says it is a time when you search for answers from God. it is a time of drawing near to God to know His character and heart more. It is a time when you plead with God to make your heart more aligned with His. There are other times when we pray: when we intercede on behalf of another, corporate prayer, or even times of confession. Investigating these will show that the relationship aspect of the prayer is essential.

God tells the people in the Sermon on the Mount that if we ask, it shall be given to us (Matthew 7:7). In order for us to ask and for Him to give, we have to have an open line of communication and thus, we must have a personal relationship with Him. Relationship with God is not only vital for beneficial prayer, it is a prerequisite to praying at all. While this relationship with the Father is sweet and He is faithful to answer our prayers, we cannot view this verse in Matthew as an end-all-be-all to how prayer works. Though Jesus instructs us to “ask and it shall be given,” many times God, in His will, does not give us exactly what we ask for. Often this is because if He did give us all the things we asked, we would abuse what is granted to us or use the answered prayer as an excuse to be distracted from the relationship we ought to have with Him. For example, if we were to ask God for an enormous amount of money and He granted that prayer, we might waste it or possibly just offer up a “thanks, God” and never talk to Him again, thinking we have all we need.

We should still ask God for specific needs, but we need to have the understanding that these requests will be answered through His divine will, not our own. When people do not get their answer, they are often told they lack faith in God for the desired outcome. This is only sometimes the case, as there are typically three responses to our prayers: “Yes,” “No,” or “Wait.” When it comes to individual prayer, what is the desired outcome? Looking at Luke 18, we see two examples of personal prayer. The first is in verse 10, where two men pray: a Pharisee and a publican, or what we would call today a tax collector.

The Pharisee began to pray while standing amidst the crowd. he was thanking God – which sounds good, but the meat of the prayer involves him thanking God that he was not sinning like many of his people, including the Publican or tax collector. He was also attempting to remind God of all the good things he did. It was almost as if the Pharisee, a religious leader who should be providing an example, was saying something like, “ HEY GOD! IT’S ME, THE ONE THAT IS FOLLOWING YOU, AND PLEASE ANSWER MY PRAYER OVER THAT TAX COLLECTOR WHO IS UNDOUBTEDLY NOT FOLLOWING YOU.” The Pharisee was praying a prayer of self-righteousness, seeking his own interests not only with God but also with the people around him. In contrast to the Pharisee, the tax collector had a much different prayer. His prayer began with him facing the ground (not standing among a public crowd), apologizing for the sins that he had committed, and seeking the forgiveness of God. This parable reveals that Christ would answer the prayers of the publican, as his heart was in the right place. Whereas the Pharisee was praying from a poor motive, doing it more for show and not the personal conversations God desires.

Returning to the Sermon on the Mount, a second aspect is essential to review. In Matthew 6, we see that we should not be like the hypocrites that love to pray in the synagogues, much like the Pharisee in Luke 18, but instead, we should go into a private place and close the door, and then God will answer those prayers. This does not mean that every prayer prayed behind closed doors will lead to the answer we desire, but it does mean that God honors prayers with the right heart motive far more than ones without. Christ goes into more detail about the prayers and warns against meaningless, repetitive prayers. As a child, we would often say our bedtime prayers, similar in nature each time, but this was a building block that would be later expanded as we got older. As mentioned earlier, the similarity will be there again when we pray over our meals, but that should not be the only prayer we utter to God. We must remember that prayer seeks an answer to a request God already knows about. It is then in the latter verses that the “Lord’s Prayer” is given. The stumbling block with many Christians is they think this is the only way to do prayer. Instead of simple recitation, we need to examine the Lord’s prayer as several items that can be brought before God, looking to the essential elements of the prayer.

Several men in the Bible spent time in prayer. The first is David, who in Psalm 55:17 offered the example of praying in the evening, morning, and noon. Many of David’s prayers are in his writings to show the type of relationship believers should desire to have with God. We see that in David’s times of trial, he had great success because he would bring it before God in prayer and seek God’s guidance in the battle. In one of the most famous stories, the reason he knew that Goliath was no problem was because of the relationship that he had with God through prayer.

Daniel is the second person we see also praying multiple times a day. His prayers were so consistent that this was the only thing the king's advisors could fault Daniel: he prayed to God, not the king. But, again, because of this devotion to God, the lion's mouths were shut, and Daniel was spared from what seemed to be certain death.

These two individuals provide us with a potential starting point for our own prayer life. It must be done consistently. A study developed several years ago called the Battle Plan for Prayer by the Kendrick brothers. This is a great study if you want to develop a solid prayer life and a great place to start. Developing an understanding that we desperately need personal prayer because believers endure many battles against the enemy will help aid in developing a deeper and more dependent relationship with God.

A frequently asked question is: why do you pray? Think about your prayer time and ask yourself if it is more of a “please give me” and “help me” or if it is a time of reflection and thankfulness in the right mindset. Do you have times when your prayers are selfish or selfless? If someone was to only talk to you when they needed something, how long would you want to associate with them before you were looking to avoid them? Your answer is a solid… “Not very long.”. However, many Christians today use prayer in just this way. The great thing is that God will never abandon us, but when our prayers are self-centered and all about requests, our relationship with the Lord will be dampened and weakened. However, if we, as Christians, would desire true fellowship with Christ, as we would with a best friend, we could in many ways have a closeness that very few seem to obtain.

Developing that closeness with God will strengthen us. However, at the same time, as we grow closer to God, Satan will attack us in attempts to discourage us. This is where help is always appreciated. You can find strength in numbers by seeking others to pray on your behalf. There have been many times when someone is going through a difficult time, and the prayers of several people will cause great results. I remember a situation several years ago where a dear friend had a sick child, and there was no positive news. As a church, we gathered around our dear friend and sought God’s deliverance in this time of need; no sooner had we finished the prayers than the phone rang. That call brought news that the child had woken up and there was no sign of the illness that had plagued them previously. Good things could have happened if my dear friend had sought the Lord on his own. But with the prayers of many, multiple blessings were received by those who received the simultaneous answer to a challenge and, at the same time, encouraged my friend that the battles of life do not have to be fought alone.

For Christians, there must be a balance in our prayers. While prayer in itself is intentional, we can often slip into poor mindsets and motives, so we must ask ourselves: Am I always asking for something, or am I incorporating other aspects of prayer, such as thanksgiving and praise? Also, are my prayers only being offered for my own needs, or am I willing to intercede on behalf of fellow believers who also need help in a time of need? Finally, are we praying for an upcoming event or situation that we know will be a struggle for us and petitioning God for the encouragement that comes from seeking His will?

Prayer is the only verbal communication that we have with God. The time we spend communicating with Him reflects our relationship with Him. At the same time, no magic formula tells Christians how, when, where, and why we should pray. When we examine the scriptures, many of these questions have a potential guideline to follow, but the relationship we desire will dictate our prayer life. It is a choice for us and should be treasured and appreciated.