Why Do We Pray?

I was raised in a home and church that prayed. We prayed before meals, when we woke up, before bedtime, before meetings, for worship. We see people praying around us; before sporting events, after sporting events, individually, as a group. 

We acknowledge that prayer is important, Jesus taught and demonstrated how to pray. But how does prayer work, and what does it accomplish? While we may not know how to answer that question, we find ourselves praying anyway. Oftentimes we pray out of necessity. You may have heard the saying, "there are no atheists in foxholes" or in any other big holes we find ourselves. When we're frightened beyond words, pushed beyond our limits, and find ourselves far outside our comfort zone, we instinctively and sometimes involuntarily resort to prayer. 

I remember right after 9/11/2001, people were in total disbelief and in a numb state. The news kept reporting on the devastation that took place. There were many prayer vigils happening across the country. I remember one of the parents on my son's soccer team who claimed to be an atheist, telling me, "I don't know how to pray, but I feel like I should be praying."   Yes, in extreme situations many feel the need to pray.

But how does anyone explain how prayer works? God is sovereign with complete and perfect wisdom. Does he need me to tell him what to do? He is complete goodness and righteousness. Does he need me to prod him into doing the right thing? Does God need my input or counsel? Is it possible that my petition could cause God to change His eternal plan? While we can't answer these questions, we can know one thing for sure: prayer changes us. It's one of the ways in which God can cause me to turn from the things that break my heart to the things that break His, to turn from the things that I desire to the things that He desires of me. 

When God shared His plan to destroy Sodom with Abraham, Abraham prayed for the city. God already gave his verdict on Sodom. Genesis 18:20 records, "How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin!" Up to this point in our reading of Genesis, Sodom was an insignificant city, full of wickedness and defiance against God that probably deserved to be wiped off the face of the earth. But for Abraham, Sodom had more value. His nephew and family lived there, Abraham walked the streets of Sodom. It wasn't as easy for Abraham to give up Sodom. God said in verse 17, "Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham?"

As the two angels left Abraham, heading down towards Sodom, the LORD remained standing before Abraham, perhaps waiting for Abraham to speak, knowing Abraham's heart and his thoughts. We know what takes place after this. Abraham pleads Sodom's case, begging the LORD to spare Sodom for the sake of a few righteous, beginning with fifty and negotiating down to ten. Abraham's prayer and discussion with the LORD for Sodom didn't change the situation but it changed Abraham. Through this conversation with God, Abraham gained a little more understanding of God's wisdom.

In similar ways, our prayers toward God don't cause him to rethink His plans. They are conversations that He allows us to have, to speak our mind and then listen to God as He speaks His. We speak and we listen until He teaches us a little more about his mind and wisdom. 

Our prayers often stem from fear, anxiety, anger or doubt. God listens to them and turns them into something else, something we benefit from.

"Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 4:6-7

God uses our prayers, done with the right attitude and heart, to help us understand more about who He is and causes us to become more like Him.

Pastor Bryan