Why pray?

Prayer as Obedience and Imitation of Christ

Why pray? We're going to answer that question. You can also discover more on GotQuestions .org. For the Christian, praying is supposed to be like breathing, easier to do than not to.

Do.

We pray for a variety of reasons. For one thing, prayer is a form of serving God and obeying Him. We pray because God commands us to pray. Prayer is exemplified for us by Christ and the early church. And if Jesus thought it was worthwhile to pray, we should also.

Prayer as the Means God Uses to Accomplish His Will

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, to overcome demonic barriers, to gather workers for the spiritual harvest, to gain strength to overcome temptation, and to obtain the means of strengthening others spiritually.

We come to God with our specific requests and have God's promise that our prayers are not in vain, even if we do not receive specifically what we asked for. He has promised that when we ask for things that are in accordance with His will, He will give us what we ask for.

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. 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. Prayer was instrumental in the spirit's ascending of Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey.

Biblical Examples of Prayer, Wisdom, and Healing

Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge, and God gave him that and much more. Prayers unprayed will be prayers unanswered. If the Syrian woman with the demon-influenced daughter had not prayed to Christ, her daughter would not have been made whole.

If the blind man outside Jericho had not called out to Christ, he would have remained blind. God has said that we often go without because we do not ask. 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 promised in His word and bless our lives abundantly more than we can ask or hope for. Prayer is our primary means of seeking God's 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.

We have His promise that the fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much. May God glorify His name in our lives as we believe in Him enough to come to Him often.

In prayer.

Prayer as Faith, Dependence, and Perseverance

That answers the question, why pray? On our website, GotQuestions .org, you'll find a deeper discussion and recommended resources. If this helped you, give us a thumbs up and click subscribe. Meanwhile, if you'd like to study more, click the bell and check out these other questions.