Prayer is one of the most important parts of the life of a Christian (or at least it should be), as it is the method that Christians use to communicate with God. However, Christians and skeptics alike, will often wonder why prayer is needed at all since God is presented as omniscient (all-knowing) in the Bible. If God knows everything then why do we have to pray to him? (This can also bring in another question such as “If God cannot change his mind, then how can God answer prayers if he has already determined something to happen?”)
The first thing to understand is that the main reason why Christians should pray is that it is something that God tells us to devote ourselves to (Colossians 4:2) and to do so continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Even Jesus prayed, and if he does it wouldn’t that tell us that prayer is an important thing. Jesus taught his disciples to pray and gave them a model on how to properly do it (Matthew 6:9-13).
An interesting fact that I am sure all Christians would like to know is that Scripture teaches us that we will not receive certain things simply because we do not pray for them (James 4:2). God wants us to bring our desires and requests to him (Philippians 4:6-8), and Jesus tells us that persistent prayer will bring results (Luke 18:1-8). Although we must be careful here. God does hear our prayers (1 Kings 8:52; Psalms 6:9) and he will answer them, but there are times that he will do so in a way that we do not expect. God will answer our prayers according to his will and not ours. God will not give you something that is contrary to what he has determined.
This brings us to another reason why we should pray – for God’s will to be done, not because it won’t happen if we do not pray, but because we need to align ourselves with His will. This is the number one reason why we should pray – to spend time with him and grow in a relationship with him. We were created to commune with him. Our prayers are never done in vain (Matthew 6:6).
Besides all of this we are to pray for many different things (this is, of course, an incomplete list):
- To confess our sins (Matthew 6:12; 1 John 1:9)
- For God’s protection (Numbers 10:35)
- For wisdom (1 Kings 3:1-15; 4:29-34)
- That God would teach us his ways and guide our hearts toward him and his will (Psalms 86:11)
- To forgive others (Matthew 6:13-15)
- For each other and for healing (James 5:16)
- God’s divine guidance (1 Samuel 14:36-41)
- To cry to God in times of suffering (Job 6:8-10)
- For physical strength (Nehemiah 6:9)
- For inner peace and righteousness (Psalms 139:23-24)
Prayer is an important part of a Christian’s life (one of the most important in fact). Although we are told to give God our requests the most important part of it all is to have a relationship with God and see things the way that he sees things, not the way that fallen humanity does.
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nihald595
How can i build/develop a relationship with someone who already knows everything about my life????? In relationship we have communication, we say sentences like “You know what happend today” would be like “oh sorry you already know it…ok then bye” or “i have this this opinion on this topic…what is yours?” would be like “oh sorry you cann’t tell me the secrets of life coz those are the ingredients which you have added to your recepy(universe/life) which you won’t be revealing easily…ok then bye” and i am thankful to god what he/she has given..good coz it is a gift and bad is an experience. So why prayers?
GM
Worshipping our creator and being thankful is also one of the most important parts of prayer along with repentance and trying to align to his will. We should be thankful for our trials and tribulations. We must be aware God controls our breath and life now and in after life and we should fear him and no other.we should sing his praises. Read psalms and see how David prays. Watch out for how apostles pray and Jesus when reading the Word of God. We can get much insight from the word of God on how to pray via the Word of God. God knows us better than I know myself and so yes we can talk to God and should. Prayer is mostly how we speak to God and how our spirit also prays for us more feverntly when we pray. The Word of God is how God speaks to us. I missed that up until recently. Was always praying going Gods not speaking back. Then started reading the Word and praying for wisdom and discernment and Gods opened my eyes. He does listen and cares.