For the
Christian, praying is like breathing. It is easier to do it than to not do it.
We pray for a variety of reasons. For one thing, prayer is a form of serving
God (Luke 2:36-38) and obeying Him. We pray because God commands us to pray
(Philippians 4:6-7). Prayer is exemplified for us by Christ and the early
church (Mark 1:35; Acts 1:14; 2:42; 3:1; 4:23-31; 6:4; 13:1-3). If Jesus
thought it was worthwhile to pray, we should also. If He needed to pray to
remain in the Father’s will, how much more do we need to pray?
Another reason to
pray is that God intends prayer to be the means of obtaining His solutions in a
number of situations. We pray in preparation for major decisions (Luke
6:12-13); to overcome demonic barriers (Matthew 17:14-21); to gather workers
for the spiritual harvest (Luke 10:2); to gain strength to overcome temptation
(Matthew 26:41); and to obtain the means of strengthening others spiritually
(Ephesians 6:18-19). We come to God with our specific requests, and we have God's promise that our prayers are not in vain, even if we do not receive specifically what we asked for (Matthew 6:6; Romans 8:26-27). He has promised that when we ask for things that are in accordance with His will, He will give us what we ask for (1 John 5:14-15). Sometimes He delays His answers according to His wisdom and for our benefit. In these situations, we are to be diligent and persistent in prayer (Matthew 7:7; Luke 18:1-8). Prayer should not be seen as our means of getting God to do our will on earth, but rather as a means of getting God's will done on earth. God’s wisdom far exceeds our own.
For situations in
which we do not know God's will specifically, prayer is a means of discerning
His will. If the Syrian woman with the demon-influenced daughter had not prayed
to Christ, her daughter would not have been made whole (Mark 7:26-30). If the
blind man outside Jericho had not called out to Christ, he would have remained
blind (Luke 18:35-43). God has said that we often go without because we do not
ask (James 4:2). In one sense, prayer is like sharing the gospel with people.
We do not know who will respond to the message of the gospel until we share it.
In the same way, we will never see the results of answered prayer unless we
pray.
A lack of prayer
demonstrates a lack of faith and a lack of trust in God’s Word. We pray to
demonstrate our faith in God, that He will do as He has promised in His Word
and bless our lives abundantly more than we could ask or hope for (Ephesians
3:20). Prayer is our primary means of seeing God work in others' lives. Because
it is our means of “plugging into” God's power, it is our means of defeating
Satan and his army that we are powerless to overcome by ourselves. Therefore,
may God find us often before His throne, for we have a high priest in heaven
who can identify with all that we go through (Hebrews 4:15-16). We have His
promise that the fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much (James
5:16-18). May God glorify His name in our lives as we believe in Him enough to
come to Him often in prayer.
- S.
Michael Houdmann
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