The Devil's ultimate strategy in deceiving believers is to make them doubt the faithfulness of God in answering prayer. Satan would have us believe that God has shut His ears to our cries and pleas and left us to work things out for ourselves.
Why should we pray? What is the point of prayer when God knows the future and is already in control of everything. If we cannot change God's mind, why should we pray?
For the Christian, praying must become like breathing. It must become so ingrained in us that it becomes easier to do it than to not do it. Therefore, we pray for a variety of reasons.
For one thing, prayer is a form of serving God (Luke 2:36-38) and obeying Him. We pray because God commands us to pray (Philippians 4:6-7). Prayer is exemplified for us by Christ and the early church (Mark 1:35; Acts 1:14; 2:42; 3:1; 4:23-31; 6:4; 13:1-3). If Jesus thought it was worthwhile to pray, we should quickly adopt His example of prayer. Think of it from this perspective.... if Jesus needed to pray to remain in the Father’s will, how much more then do we need to pray?
Another reason to pray is that God intends prayer to be the means of obtaining His solutions in a number of life situations. We pray in preparation for major decisions (Luke 6:12-13); to overcome demonic barriers (Matthew 17:14-21); to gather workers for the spiritual harvest (Luke 10:2); to gain strength to overcome temptation (Matthew 26:41); and to obtain the means of strengthening others spiritually (Ephesians 6:18-19).
We come to God with our specific requests, and we have God's promise that our prayers are not in vain, even if we do not receive specifically what we asked for (Matthew 6:6; Romans 8:26-27). He has promised that when we ask for things that are in accordance with His will, He will give us what we ask for (1 John 5:14-15). That’s the part that frustrates many Christians... “in accordance with His will.” Not all of what we pray for meets the criteria of being inline with His will and purpose.
Sometimes He delays His answers according to His wisdom and for our benefit. In these situations, we are to be diligent and persistent in prayer (Matthew 7:7; Luke 18:1-8). Prayer should not be seen as our means of getting God to do “our will” on earth, but rather as a means of getting God's will done on earth. God’s wisdom far exceeds our own.
I believe the greatest tragedy among many believers in the church today is that so few now believe in the power and effectiveness of prayer. Too many of God's people can be heard complaining... "I pray, but I get no answers. I've prayed so long, so hard, without any results. All I want is to see a little evidence of God changing things. Things go on as usual... nothing happens. How long must I wait?" It’s not God... it’s you. It's most likely what you pray for, how you pray and the condition and circumstances of your life that often inhibit His response. Sometimes we simply refuse to accept God’s answer to our prayers because we don’t like the answer... it’s not what we wanted.
For situations in which we do not know God's will specifically, prayer is a means of discerning His will. If the Syrian woman with the demon-influenced daughter had not prayed to Christ, her daughter would not have been made whole (Mark 7:26-30). If the blind man outside Jericho had not called out to Christ, he would have remained blind (Luke 18:35-43). God has said that we often go without because we do not ask (James 4:2).
In one sense, prayer is like sharing the gospel with people. We do not know who will respond to the message of the gospel until we share it. In the same way, we will never see the results of prayer answered... unless we pray.
A lack of prayer demonstrates a lack of faith and a lack of trust in God’s Word. We pray to demonstrate our faith in God, that He will do as He has promised in His Word and bless our lives abundantly more than we could ask or hope for (Ephesians 3:20).
Prayer is our primary means of seeing God work in others' lives. Because it is our means of “plugging into” God's power, it is our means of defeating Satan and his army that we are powerless to overcome by ourselves.
For many Christians... prayer is the final frontier in developing a deep and intimate relationship with God. Prayer should not make us uncomfortable, it should draw us closer and closer to Him. Prayer grows in depth, quality and alignment with God’s will as we ourselves grow in wisdom and maturity.
We have help, the best you can get. A high priest in heaven who can identify with all that we go through in this life (Hebrews 4:15-16). We have His promise that the fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much (James 5:16-18).
May God glorify His name in our lives as we believe in Him enough to come to Him often in prayer.
