As I think about prayer there are many questions that are good for us to ask. For instance, why pray if God is all knowing? If God already knows the future, why do we need to tell Him? I believe that it is healthy in our life as a Christian to ask God questions. In fact, He is the very one we should go to when we have questions. 1 Corinthians 1:30 tells us, “…Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom…”
I believe that there are many reasons why we pray. One of the reasons is that throughout the Bible God uses people to complete His will. God used Moses to part the Red Sea, Esther to protect Her people, Paul to write most of the New Testament, and even an eight-year-old King named Josiah to turn His nation back to God.
In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus told us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done” (Mathew 6:10). Why does God want us to pray for His will to be done? Because not everything that happens is His will. He is not in full control of everything that happens. That is why we are God’s hands and feet to this world.
God uses people. Even God became a man and died for us on the Cross. Why because He does not force His will on us. God has given us the ability to choose. Proverbs 18:21 reads, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” God created life with His tongue when He spoke out, “…Let there be light…”and boom, there was light (Genesis 1:3). Similarly, we can speak life with our own words. God now wants us to use our free-will to pray and seek the Lord.
Another reason is because it builds our relationship with God. Communication is one of the most important parts of a relationship. It also allows for a time to give thanks to God. I believe in the prayer sandwich. A prayer sandwich is when start the prayer with thanks and end it with thanks also. However, you like your prayer sandwich is up to you, but I like to at least start with a bun.
One final thought, God wants to be reminded. In Isaiah 43:26 God said, “Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted.” I think it has a lot to do with us. We forget things. It’s good to bring things up in remembrance. Have you ever known a family member was traveling to see you. Even though you know you will see them, when they arrive, when they show up, you are exited. I believe that God enjoys it when we pray. Even though He knows we are about to talk with Him, He enjoys it! God get’s exited when we pray.
Hi Caleb. I really appreciate you engaging with this issue as I struggle with it regularly, however, I also struggle with the idea that you present that God is not Sovereign in all of this – I know that as Evangelical Christians we need to try to juggle a God who both allows free will AND has pre-destined people’s destiny. This is a concept that our limited human minds wrestle to come to terms with. You suggest: “He is not in full control of everything that happens.” I would challenge this with Ephesians 1:3-5 which suggests otherwise? With humility, Cathy