Why Pray?

Does it matter whether we  pray or not?  Does prayer really do any good?

If God is in control, why can't we just trust that He will take care of everything in our lives and everything will turn out ok in the end?  After all, doesn't He always want the best for us? We could just pray, "Thy will be done," and that should take care of it, right?
Have any of these thoughts ever entered your mind, as they have mine?

So what does the Bible teach us about prayer?

The scripture that first comes to my mind is in Luke 18, the parable of the persistent widow who kept going to the judge to ask for justice.  Because of her continual asking, the judge granted her request.  If she had asked only one time, she would have gotten nothing from the judge.

The first verse of that chapter  says that Jesus told the parable to the disciples to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Then verse eight indicates that persistent prayer is counted as faith.  Wait a minute--we have heard it said continual prayer about something indicates a lack of faith.  Can we pray a prayer of faith, believing that he has heard and will answer our prayer, and yet still pray about it?  I believe we can.   If we know that we are praying according to his will, we can continually bring it up to the Lord, thanking him that he has heard and that he will answer.  We can remind him of the promises in his word and  tell him that we believe those promises are true.  Speak out our faith to him, don't give up our faith, no matter what we see in the natural.

Another scripture indicating a need to persevere in prayer is Matthew Chapter 7.  Jesus tells us to "Ask, seek, and knock."  Asking indicates that we believe God is our good Father and that he cares about our need.  He tells us elsewhere in the Bible (James 4) that we do not have because we do not ask,  or we ask with wrong motives.  Seeking implies earnest petitioning to the Lord for our need.  Knocking implies perseverance in coming to the Lord even when we don't see the answer quickly.

Jesus says, "Everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be  opened."  If we know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more  will our heavenly Father give good gifts to his children who ask him.

Many times throughout the Bible, we see examples of how prayer is necessary in order for God's will to be carried  out.  The Israelites were successful in their battle against the Amalekites only as long as Moses persisted in prayer with his hands lifted toward God.  After Elijah received the prophetic word that rain was coming, he still persisted in prayer  until the rain came.  And many more examples can be seen even in the New Testament.  The early church prayed in the upper room until the Holy Spirit came. What if they had not stayed there and prayed?  How different the outcome for the church would have been.

In Mark 11:24,  Jesus states  "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it  will be yours."  IN PRAYER, ask for it.  BELIEVE that you HAVE received it, it shall be yours.  We have to ask in faith.

In John 14, he says "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that  the Son may bring glory to the Father.  You may ask me for  anything in my name,  and I will do it."  Again, we see  that we have to ASK.  There is authority in the name of Jesus.

Prayer is effective when it is in harmony with the will and word of  God.  "This is the confidence we have in approaching  God:  that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."  (I John 5:14)
In many instances we know God's will because he reveals it  to us in his word.  We don't have to pray, "If it be thy will," when the Bible clearly shows that it is God's will.  Maybe we need to study the Bible more to be sure we  know what the  will of God is.

At other  times God's will becomes  clear only as we earnestly seek to determine what it is.  In these times, we may have to humble ourselves through fasting and continue in prayer until we hear from  the Lord.  This is the hard part.  How do we know when God speaks to us?  We have to learn to know the Lord's voice when he speaks, but we can be assured that he does speak to his children, "My sheep hear my voice" (John 10:27).  Once we  know his  will about any given issue, we can pray with confidence and  faith that God will answer.

It is a principle of God's word that his people pray persistently in faith, in the authority of Jesus' name, and in accordance with his will in order for his plan to be accomplished on this earth and in  our lives.