Skip to main content

Why Do We Need To Pray?



And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
                                                                      (Matthew 6:7-13)


If God is all-knowing and good, and if He loves us, then why do we need to pray to ask Him for anything? If He is a provident God, and if all things from Him are part of that providence, why do we ask? Is it some sort of cruel game God plays, requiring that we beg and then flipping a coin to see whether to string us along a little further in hope or to send us crashing to the ground?
 I believe the answer is that we need to ask because it benefits us to ask. It’s not a game. It’s a reflection of reality. God is God. If we were also God, we would have no needs, but because we are not God there are things we need. Asking God for them reminds us of that reality (which is why we tend to hate it.) God saying “No” reminds us of that reality as well. In fact, it could be that God made man particularly needy because that would make it harder for us to pretend that we aren’t needy. In other words, it makes it harder for us to lie to ourselves and to others.
           Another reason I believe that we need to ask God for things is because it gives God a chance to reveal His love more fully. If we were not aware of our need, if every need were supplied without our awareness and sometimes deep experience of that need, we could not appreciate the gift and we would not be aware of the love of the giver. 
          A third reason I believe we need to ask God for things is because it teaches us about how we should love others. If everything just happened for everyone, what motivation, or example, would we have to love others?
          Father, thank You that You are God and we are not. Thank You for giving us needs so that we are kept honest and real. Thank You for using our needs to reveal Your love for us and thank You for using our needs to teach us to love one another. Thank You also that You don’t demand elaborate prayers or ceremonies with our requests, but just an acknowledgement of that need: Hallowed be Your name, give us our daily bread, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us, lead us into temptation, deliver us from evil. So simple, Father. Such a necessary foundation on which to build.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more