Why do we pray?

I read a book awhile back for work.  It was called The Question Behind the Question.  I don't remember much of it other than the title, which drove home the point of the book, that to begin to find an answer to a question start by asking a question about it.  It resonated with me very much because I saw it as a principle that Jesus demonstrated, often responding to people's questions with a question. 

I imagined myself asking Jesus, "Lord, do You do anything apart from prayer?" and wondered, "What question would He ask me?"

Perhaps He would say, "Why do you ask Me?"

This question makes me wonder.  It is not so much the question of "Why do I want to know?" but rather "Why do I ask?"

The scriptures tell us that we pray as the Holy Spirit directs us.  (Romans 8:26,27)  We come to Him because He called for us. (John 6:44)  We love Him because He loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Prayer is not so much initiated by us to move God, but rather it is our response to God ‘s desire to move.

And we pray (speak to Him, request of Him, reason with Him, cry out to Him) because He has already started the conversation. 

Even when we find ourselves praying, “Our Father, Who art in heaven…” we are repeating what the Lord told us to say.  When the disciples begged him, “Teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1) they were not just asking the Lord how to speak, but also how to listen for He had said, “as my Father has taught me, I speak things.” (John 8:28)

When we pray earnestly and see that prayer answered we must realize that the Holy Spirit directed us to ask for what God desired to give.  The prayer then becomes the permission we give God to do what He wants to do.  We can then receive it.  If I say in faith, “Lord, HEAL ME!!!!” and am healed it is not that God could not do it without my prayer, for He is Jehovah Rophe (the Lord Who Heals), but that without prayer I am unable to receive it.

Prayer aligns us with the Father’s will, not the Father to ours. 

Prayer is our working in concert with God, not God working in concert with us.  It brings these instruments of ten strings into harmony with Him. 

He told us to take His yoke upon us.  It is His work.  Therefore prayer is a holy work.  It is spiritual work.  It is work that must be done.

It is not that God must wait until prayer occurs, but that prayer occurs because God has decided not to wait.

God can only deliver what we sign for.  It is His will, His desire, that none should perish but that all should be saved.  He wants not only to work in us and through us but with us.  We cannot work alone, and the Lord desires for us to co-labor with Him.  Prayer is the conduit for that union.  It is how we connect with Him.

God is free to act as He chooses.  When we pray we are agreeing with His choice to act.

SDG