Why do we pray?

Some people wonder why we need to pray if God is Omniscient. He knows what we need before we do, so why doesn't he just give it to us before we ask?

Here are six reasons why we need to pray:

  • Command: We are commanded to pray (Philippians 4:6, Matthew 26:41, Luke 18:1-7).
  • Communion: God wants us to spend time with him. The best way to get us to spend time with him is if we understand that God may listen to our petitions. God loves it when we talk to him, even if it's always: I want this and this and ... If you have children, you understand that any way you can get a young child to sit on your lap is good, even if it requires that you listen to a long list of requests.
  • Context: If we pray for something and we get it, we are likely to give God the glory. If something happens without a specific request, we may think that we were just lucky, or that it was by our own strength that the thing was accomplished. Prayer creates a context for God to answer our prayers.
  • Communication: God needs a time when he can talk to us when we are quiet enough for us to hear him. Prayer is usually a good time for this. You do not need to have prophetic gifting to be able to hear God. God is always looking for times and places to talk to his children. We just need to keep quiet long enough to allow him time to speak.
  • Confession: We need to confess our sins to our father and repent of them. The best time to do this is during prayer.
  • Change: God wants to change certain things in the world and the lives of others. When God directs our prayers, he is showing us his heart and allowing us to participate in the things of the Kingdom.

How should we pray?

  1. Pray about the Kingdom of God. Jesus gives us a perfect way to pray in Matthew 6:9-13. Our prayers should be about what God wants more than what we want. This does not mean that we shouldn't let God know what we want (Philippians 4:6), just that we have to keep the Kingdom of God first.
  2. Pray for things that we actually need, not for wanton pleasures (James 4:3).
  3. Pray with faith (Matthew 21:22). We need to believe that God can do the things we're praying for, and believing that he does love us. However, we also need to understand that sometimes we ask for things that are bad for us. We need to accept a "no" answer to our prayers without going into a tail spin and losing all our faith. We all need to have faith and an unwavering belief that God really does love us and want's the best for us.
  4. Pray with a pure heart (James 5:16, Mark 11:25,1 Peter 3:12).
  5. Pray for those that persecute you (Matthew 5:44).
  6. Don't pray long and manipulative prayers (Matthew 6:5).
  7. Pray that you don't enter into temptation (Luke 22:46). Just remember, testing is different than temptation.
  8. Pray continually (Acts 2:42, Acts 10:2-4,1 Thessaloninas 5:17).
  9. Pray that you do no wrong (2 Cornthians 13:7).
  10. Pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened (Ephesians 1:18, Phillipians 1:9).
  11. Pray that God would reveal what he want's you to pray for (Matthew 6:9-13). This is along the lines of extra credit, but something that everyone should be able to do, but not everyone does. I've learned that the best way to see things really happen is to ask God what to pray for and then pray for that thing in the way that he showed me. It's pretty amazing what God will show you and the way he answers these prayers.
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