In his book Secrets of a Prayer Warrior, Derek Prince makes the observation that the quality of our prayers rests on the image of God we have in our mind. Each of us has indeed created some sort of image of God, the Father in our mind. Maybe we see Him as a judge seeking to dole out punishment, a puppeteer directing our every move, or perhaps, as Derek Prince himself did, we see God as a Schoolmaster, waiting to scold anyone who steps out of line. The image of God I struggled with for many years was that of a Dictator – One who forces His will upon his subjects regardless of their desires, hopes, or dreams. Isn’t that why we are asked to end each prayer with “Your will be done”? Cause that’s all that He will do anyways. So, what’s the point? Why even pray? He knows my heart. He knows my desires even before I am aware of it. Why do I need to formally say it out in prayer just to end it with “but not my will, your will be done.” Isn’t prayer kind of pointless?
Despite all my doubts and disillusionment with it, prayer remained one of those mysteries that kept intriguing me. Though I didn’t see the point of it, I kept yearning the prayer life. I missed praying. It seemed like my spirit that longed to pray was in disagreement with my mind that was convinced that it was pointless.
So, I began exploring the Bible to see if it would give me any clarity on why I should pray and of course I learnt a few things 🙂 The truth is that regardless of my imagination, God is no dictator. He has shared with us in His Word, many reasons why we should come to Him in prayer. He has and continues to graciously teach me the great and irreplaceable value of prayer in the life of a Christian. Today, I will share with you three biblical reasons to pray.
1. So that our faith may not fail.
In Luke 22 v 32 and 33, we read of how Jesus foretold of Peter’s denial of Him.
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Jesus was privy to the fact that Peter was going to walk through this horrific and humbling trial of denying His beloved Savior three times right before His very eyes. Yet we don’t see a Jesus raising His hands up in hopeless surrender to the Father’s will, saying, “Well, I guess that’s going to happen. Nothing can be done now that God has willed it”. Instead, we see Jesus, pray. He prays that Peter will be strengthened through his trial, so that when he turned back to Jesus again, he could strengthen his brothers.
Jesus shows us that the first reason to pray is because our faith is strengthened through prayer. And even more, we are transformed by this strength to in return strengthen others.
2. If we do not pray, we will not receive
According to James, the brother of Jesus, there is a very simple equation we must grasp as followers of Christ. We read this in James 4 v 2, “You do not have because you do not ask.”
Jesus knew that it was God’s will that Peter goes through his trial of denying his Lord. Jesus also knew that he had to pray for strength in order for Peter to have it in his time of need.
Just as trials are part of God’s plan for our lives, that we would pray is also part of His plan. Though a mystery to us, somehow, God has made it part of His plan that as we pray certain realities will unfold. What and how, we are not privy to. But James says it is so. As Jesus taught – It is part of God’s plan that upon our asking He gives, upon our seeking He reveals, and open our knocking He opens.
Hebrews 4 v 16 echoes this. “Let us then draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need.”
3. God promises to draw near to us when we draw near to Him
God designed prayer in order that He may respond to it. Can’t He still talk to us regardless of whether we pray or not? Of course, He can. God’s hands are not tied because we didn’t say a prayer. However, He has intentionally designed prayer in pursuit of relationship with His children, and not as a means for accomplishing His will. Just like a little child’s cry for dad or mom never goes unanswered, God asks us to pray so that He may incline His ear toward us. It is His intention and desire to hear our prayers and respond.
James 4 v 8 reminds us– “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
There is no other means to draw near to God other than through prayer.
Of course there are a number of other reasons the Bible gives us to spend time in prayer. But I hope that the next time you feel like a prayer wouldn’t change anything, I hope you recall these three simple reasons to get down on your knees. Pray so that your faith may not fail, pray so that you receive in your time of need, and pray so that as you draw nearer to Him, you experience the amazing grace of God drawing nearer to you.
Pick Up Your Bible 