Why Pray?

I’ve often had a sort of see-saw prayer life, where prayer shifts from an ongoing offering of thoughts, praise and pleas from me to God throughout the day to other times when I pray or exchange thoughts with God less often than I’d like to admit. But at church yesterday our pastor renewed my appreciation for the privilege of prayer, which is what I wanted to share today.

I used to think, in some senses, my prayer was just a bit unnecessary, except in the context of my relationship with God. Having a friendship with anyone means sharing thoughts, ideas and so forth—through discussion. So prayer is clear and obvious evidence of my faith. My petitions for help, though, were usually in the realm of asking for peace, protection, or direction. Important things, all—but not very bold.

But as our pastor reminded us yesterday, God’s preferred method of implementing His will is to wait until we petition Him for our needs. We live in a world that gives us ample opportunity to cry out to God for help, either because of consequences of our own sins or mistakes or from living in a world riddled with natural diseases, disasters or from consequences of other people’s sin. I spoke about this before, that the price of free will is not only love, but suffering. Suffering does remind us of our need for God, and can draw us closer to Him.

Sometimes, though, our prayers within this state of suffering are timid. At least mine have been. Even my pastor admitted at one time his prayers were something like mine: Your will be done, Lord. And so it’s true. His will will be done, and it seems that’s bound to happen whether or not we pray. But if His preferred method of exercising His will is to wait until we ask, then doesn’t it rest on us to ask? Shouldn’t our prayers be more bold than just saying Your will be done?

The reality of prayer is two fold. God’s will is revealed through prayer, and sometimes He answers our prayers the way we hope—but sometimes not. God certainly will heal us from the burdens we’re not meant to carry, but He will not heal us from the burdens we are supposed to carry.

As we pray and ask God for all things, bold in our prayers and petitions, we become more aware of God’s will in our lives. We get to know the burdens we’re supposed to carry and to depend more upon God for the tools, the strength and the comfort we need to face whatever burden we have.

As Paul demonstrated so well through the petitions he sent up for his own healing, a prayer that God didn’t answer the way Paul at first hoped, he eventually accepted God’s grace to be sufficient and that his burden was something he was meant to carry. He also knew his ministry had been extended many times through God’s miraculous mercy. And we all know which of the two resulted in the most glory for God and benefit to mankind!