"Why do we pray?"
This is a question I had about a month ago. I understood prayer, I prayed all the time, I knew that the Bible said to "pray without ceasing," (1 Thessalonians 5:17) but I just didn't totally 'get it.' My mind set was "If God knows what's going to happen, why do we pray? Isn't it going to happen anyway? Doesn't He already know what we're going to say?" It wasn't that I didn't think we should pray or that prayer was dumb, I simply thought about it a little harder than usual and started wondering.
To start, God is all knowing. He knows what's already happened, what's currently happening, and what's going to happen. He knows every part of you and every corner of your heart. So, why do we come to Him in prayer to tell Him these things if He already knows about them? Simple! Prayer is our lifeline to God. It's how we talk to Him! Can you imagine never being able to communicate with God? That's a pretty lonely relationship. But still, why do we tell Him things He already knows, anyway? Because God does not need us to tell Him anything, but He WANTS us to. He may know everything already, but our prayer helps US realize our complete dependance for Him! Praying helps us to realize that we DON'T have control, but He does. God doesn't need us. We give Him absolutely nothing He doesn't already have, but He wants us to give Him everything anyway. It's the truest and greatest love there is! A love that does not need, but wants, craves, and longs for. He doesn't need us to come to Him in prayer, but wants us to communicate and lean on Him. Prayer allows us to talk to God and helps us to realize how much we all really need Him!
So, if God knows what's going to happen, why do we ask for certain things? Won't what's meant to happen, happen? Again, the answer is simple: participation. God has allowed us to take part in His great works! He could do anything and everything all by Himself, but He chose to allow us to help with the outcome!
It's like when you were little and your parents would let you help cook. They really didn't need your help in any way and could do it without you, but they decided to let you help anyway because they loved you! They allowed your actions to impact the outcome!
God may have it set that your prayer will effect what's going to happen.
James 5:13-16 says, "13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."
The sick people in verse 14 were made well because of the prayers of the elders which you can see in verse 15. God has made it where prayer has an effect on what happens. How amazing???
So, that is why we pray. I may have made it a lot more complicated than needed, but I'm sure it can be more complex than this, but when I was confused and was told all of this, it made a lot more sense to me. I finally got it! So, thank you for reading and I hope it helped!
Lots of love,
Natalie