I woke up early this morning and was praying when I started thinking about why we pray.
I believe God is sovereign over everything. He controls all. He has planned all that will happen and nothing takes Him by surprise. So, the thought that came to my mind was, “Why bother to pray if God is going to do what He is going to do anyway? What difference do my prayers make and why do we pray anyway?”
It seems to be one of those tensions in the Bible. One of those things that is sometimes hard to understand. But the Bible says that God controls all things.
Daniel 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
But the Bible also commands us to pray.
1Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
1Timothy 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
James 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
We are commanded to pray. But we are also commanded to pray according to God’s will.
1 John 5:14 ¶ And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
I can think of several reasons why we should pray:
· We are commanded to & when we obey God we are pleasing Him
· It shows that we have faith and trust in God
· When we pray according to His will it shows that we trust Him to do what is best according to His plan
· We confess our sins in prayer to Him
· When we bring our fears and worries to Him in prayer and leave them there it helps our stress levels
· Prayer is where we are to express our thanks and praise to Him
· Prayer is communicating with God. If we never pray it’s like never talking to Him.
I’m sure you might be able to come up with even more reasons why we should pray. Feel free to write them in the comments section. I’d like to hear your thoughts as well.
1 comment:
it's so interesting how i stumbled here today. i just heard a reading from the Gospel today saying that we shouldn't babble like the pagans like it would make God hear them more or something because our Father knows our needs before it reaches our lips.
and so i was asking myself if God knows so well then why pray?
while God has His will for our lives, He knows everything that's going to happen. if we didn't have the freedom to pray and ask for things, how much more are we compared to the animals who live life as it is dictated to them?
if we don't pray, how would we be maintaining our relationship with God? because if we are not free to cut our relationship with God, staying in that relationship means nothing.
so yeah. interesting food for the thought. :)
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