Why pray?
Why Pray?
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 NASB
Every Christian should know that prayer is important. Evidently, from what Jesus said, there are things that God has for us, that we won’t have, if we don’t ask, and there are things that God wants to show us, that we will never discover, if we don’t seek, and the are opportunities that God wants opened to us, that never will be, if we do not knock!
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. Luke 18:1 ESV
Why should we pray? Firstly, we should pray, because God expects us to pray. God tells us to pray- at all times, without ceasing and with all manner of prayers! (1 Thess 5:16-18) In teaching the Lord’s prayer, Jesus presumed that His disciples would pray; he said “When you pray, say …”.
God expects us to pray - and that is a good enough reason. God believes, if we are to have a successful Christian life, we need a healthy prayer life.
Jesus, made a point to teach his disciples about prayer.
“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’ Matthew 6: 7-14
It matters to God, what we believe about prayer, how we pray, and what we pray about. Jesus told his disciples that their Heavenly Father knew what they needed. This knowledge, the knowledge that God was aware of their needs was to effect the confidence in which they prayed, the manner in which they prayed (do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do) and what they prayed about (Pray then this way).
In Mark 9 we read the account of Jesus delivering a boy of an unclean spirit, after the disciples had tried and failed. The disciples came to Jesus in private afterwards and asked Jesus why they had not been able to cast the demon out. Jesus’ response was that these kind cannot be driven out except by prayer. Jesus couldn’t talking about a single prayer, or a series of prayers, because he himself simply told the evil spirit to go. Jesus did not pray about the situation. Jesus was talking about a life of prayer.
The word Jesus used for prayer in this instance (proseuche) was also used to refer to locations where people went to pray, where they set aside time to consecrate themselves and worship God. In these places the Jews would go through a ritual of washing themselves, reciting scripture, worshipping God singing Psalms and make specific prayers.
As a young adult, growing up with Christian friends, whenever one of us was feeling particularly down, or acting a bit fleshly, our friends were just as likely to ask us, “Have you had your quiet time today?”. I can imagine the Jesus’ answer to his disciples was a very similar response, “You guys have been neglecting your prayer life.”
Nevertheless, just because God asks us to do something is usually not enough for most people. It certainly wasn’t for Adam and Eve! Knowing that God wants us to pray is a starting point, but it leads to the obvious question, “Why does God ask us to pray?”
The second reason we need to pray, is so God’s will can come to pass in our lives.
In Luke 17, Jesus was travelling to Jerusalem when he came across a group of lepers. When the lepers recognised who Jesus was, they cried out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests and as they acted on his instruction, they were all healed.
What if the lepers never cried out to Jesus? What if they said something like, “Well Jesus, knows we’re here. We just need to be content with our lot. If God wants to heal us, he knows how to do.” If that was the lepers attitude, they would have died lepers.
As we go through life, there are situations which we will encounter that for which we do not have answers. There are needs we have, for which we do not have resources. Answers and provision do not necessarily just pop-up before our eyes. God wants us to seek, to ask and to pray.
Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Jeremiah 33:3 ESV
You do not have, because you do not ask. James 4:2 ESV
The requirement to pray, builds our relationship with our Heavenly Father. It helps ensure we value what he does for us.
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15 ESV
Just because something is God’s will, does not mean that it will automatically happen in our lives. Simply knowing that something is God’s will only guarantees that God will hear us us when we pray - “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” For God’s will to come to pass in our life, we must ask him, and ask in accordance with his will.
Many people will say, “If God wants you to have it, you’ll get it.” Or, “God is sovereign and His will for your life will come to pass- no matter what.” Often this is a rationalisation for unanswered prayer, or a lazy fatalistic faith. Yes, God is sovereign and because he’s sovereign it’s not for us to tell God how our relationship with him is going to work. God, in his sovereignty has said, “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open to you.” Even though God knows what we need, he still expects us to pray.
The third reason we pray is because it is our right and especially our responsibility to pray. There’s an account recorded in Genesis, of when God was about to judge Sodom and Gomorrah. God warned Abraham because Abraham was in covenant with God. However, Abraham had family living in Sodom and Abraham wanted to them to avoid the judgement that was coming so he began to negotiate with God. “What if there were forty, righteous people living in Sodom, would you still destroy it?” To which God replied that he wouldn’t if there were forty righteous people. Then Abraham said, what if there were thirty, or twenty or ten!
Most Christians have simply not been taught the rights and responsibilities we have that need to be used in prayer. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, is attributed as saying; "It seems God is limited by our prayer life—that He can do nothing for humanity unless someone asks Him.”
Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. Joshua 24:15 NSAB
The revelation we have of God in scripture is that he is almighty and he is sovereign. And also, in his wisdom, he bestowed two important qualities on mankind. Firstly, God has given us free will. He has given us the right and the ability to trust him, or to disobey him. God will lead us, teach us and strengthen us and there is nothing we can do and be apart from him, but we are free to reject him. God has designed for us to respond to his leading and his promises by seeking him in faith and prayer. The choice lays with us.
God put mankind on earth to have dominion. He delegated to us the authority to organise and run earth on behalf of himself.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26 ESV
God has not rescinded the authority and dominion he gave mankind. It may help to think of mankind’s tenure on the earth as similar to tenants leasing a house. Although the owner may have built the house and own the title for it, the tenants have the legal right to dwell in the house and treat is as their own, within certain boundaries. The owner may not come onto the property, even for the benefit of the tenant, without permission from the tenant. In a similar way, for God to act on our behalf, he requires that we ask him in faith.
Prayer is one way that God honours the dominion he gave Adam and Eve. Prayer is one way the we allow God to work in us and for us.
Satan has been permitted to work on the earth. In believing and acting on Satan’s lies, Adam and Eve gave Satan a degree of access to move and work on the earth. Although Satan was stripped of his power at the resurrection, 2 Corinthians 4:4 still calls Satan ‘the god of this world’. Through various types of prayer we take up the authority we have in Christ and exercise it over the devil.
Why do we pray? We need to pray because God told us to. We pray so God can work his will in our lives. We pray because it’s our responsibility to take the authority we have in Christ, to bring about God’s plans and purposes on the earth.
