Why Bother Praying To If God Has Everything All Figured Out Anyway?

omething tells me that you and your Lord are not on such good terms. I don't mean that in a judgmental way. I only mean that when we stop talking to someone--or think about cutting off communication--we're usually not on the best of terms. What's true of our relationship with other people is true of our relationship with God. Talking with God in prayer is a sign of a healthy relationship. Not talking to Him or wondering if it's worthwhile are signs of a possibly weakening relationship.

It happens often in friendships--this breakdown in talk. For all kinds of reasons, friends may begin to talk less with each other. They find new friends. They find new interests not shared between each other. They may move away from each other, and the distance may make talk difficult or expensive. So they talk less, and the less they talk, the weaker their friendship becomes.

I know the same thing happens in marriages. A couple begins to grow apart. Each spouse chases a separate set of goals. They pass each other on the way. Then suddenly, one of them realizes what's happening and says across the kitchen table, "We've got to do something. We're just not talking anymore."

So they do something. If they're smart, they do something. They see a counselor or their pastor. They begin talking again, and the more they talk, the stronger their marriage becomes.

What I'm trying to tell you is this: yes, we pray to God to make things happen in our lives, to change things, but we pray for many other reasons, too. Let me show you what I mean.

First, prayer teaches us dependency. When we pray, we realize that we can't do life as a soloist. We are dependent on God. We need Him. We rely on Him. As I look at the times in my own life when I've prayed very little, I see times when I was trying to live life on my own. Prayer teaches us humility. That's why praying on your knees is a good idea. I recommend it. The more we pray, the more God is recognized as our Provider and Lord.

Second, prayer is one way by which God gets us in tune with His will. I know a teenager, for instance, who was very sick with a rare form of cancer. He faced lots of therapy and several operations. When he first heard about the cancer, his prayers always went something like this: Lord, take this cancer away from me. Heal me. Send a miracle. Save me from death.

Not a bad prayer. As months passed, though, this boy's faith grew and grew. He found himself trusting and loving his Lord more than he ever had before the cancer was discovered. I remember being with him late one night when he added this prayer to the one I had spoken at his bedside: Lord, if it's not Your will to heal me of this cancer, then give the faith and the patience to make it through what's ahead.

Gradually, you see, the Lord had led this courageous Christian to place himself in his Father's arms and trust that what he needed the Lord would give. Through the Lord's response to his prayer he had teamed to face his disease and his future with confidence.

A third reason we pray is that through prayer we exercise an expensive privilege. When we pray, we talk to the Lord of the Universe, the Creator of everything and everyone that ever was or will be. That's no small talk!

All three of the reasons I've listed for prayer have one thing in common: each is tied up with our relationship with God. Prayer puts into words our dependency on God, our desire to do His will, and our gratitude for the expensive privilege of being on speaking terms with the Lord Himself.

If God never once gave us exactly what we asked in prayer, those three reasons would stand. They'd be reason enough to keep on praying. Truth is, though, God does answer prayer in His own time and in His own way. Sure, He sees the broad picture, and, sure, He knows the end of the story. That's no reason to stop praying, though. It's another reason to keep praying! Who better to ask than the One who knows?

The Bible teaches again and again that prayer really does change things (James 5:16b). The changes may not always match our will, but when we pray, God listens and God acts. His will gets done. Through it all, He keeps moving us ahead toward a good purpose (Rom. 8:28-30)