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We are told in Psalm 115:3 that God is going to do as he pleases. We are met with the question, as Christians, of why to pray if God knows everything and will do as he wants to. However, by reading more of his word and investigating, we see that there are several reasons to pray.
Jesus prayed all the time
Jesus was the son of God, wholly man and wholly God. We could assume that he does not necessarily “have to” pray because he knows everything that God does. However, Jesus prayed frequently because he wanted to be close to his Father.
Matthew 6:6 “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything will reward you.”
In this passage, Jesus is teaching us how to pray. He explains that praying in public will get no rewards, but in private, God is able to see our hearts and that our prayers are genuine and not for show. Matthew 6 goes on to the “Lord’s Prayer” which is an example of how we should pray. We are to praise God, repent for our sins, ask for what we are desiring, and yield to Him.
God Wants Us to Talk to Him
Another reason to pray is that God wants us to talk to him. Jesus wanted to truly get to know his Father. Just like Jesus, we should want to get to know our Father as well. There are things in this life that are hard- relationships, sickness, work, etc.- and in order to deal with these situations in healthy ways, we have to take the perspective that God has.
Luke 6:27-28 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”
When people are bad to us, it is easy to hate them or think negatively of them. However, God wants us to love and bless them. To understand this further, we pray for God to allow us to see people the way he does.
How Do We Pray for Sickness?
It is tricky to know how to pray for sickness. Do we pray that the sickness is taken from us, or do we pray for the faith and strength to battle it? God wants us to ask for his perspective.
Hebrews 9:27-28 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgement, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people.
When we begin to see things from God’s perspective it will change the way we look at the world and our problems.
- What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- Why do you think Jesus prayed?
- Read Matthew 6:6. How is Jesus’ prayer life a model for our lives?
- Why do you think God wants us to talk to him through prayer?
- What is one thing you can do in order to develop your prayer life?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
