Why is prayer important?

First of all we may want to ask the question, “What is prayer?” Prayer is a very important part of our lives as Christians. Prayer is talking to God on behalf of ourselves, family, friends and in response to things that affect our world. It is an opportunity to partner with God to hear His heart for people, situations and nations.

There are many reasons we pray, I will just touch on a few here. One reason we pray is to have a relationship with God. Think about it, if you have just met a person and never spent time with them, you really do not know them. You would not know their character, if they could be trusted, if they were loyal, you get my point. It is the same with God. Prayer and experiences with God play a major factor in knowing God. Now, He does not encourage us to pray to get to know us because He already knows us, even better than we know ourselves. In Jeremiah 1:5 God explains, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” This explains that the only true living God created us knows everything there is to know about us. It is our responsibility to get to know Him.

Secondly we pray to co-labor (work together) with God here on earth. In the beginning, God said, “ Let us make man in Our image, after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26) This means that God decided that He would allow us to govern this earth. The only way that we can effectively bring change upon this earth is that we work together with God so that His will is made manifest in the earth. To pray hearing His heart in a matter gives us His will. We then pray His will until we see the manifestation of it in earth. That is the privilege and authority He has given us on earth.

We also pray because God’s Word, the Bible, commands us to pray. One of my favorite scriptures is,”Be anxious for nothing but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) All throughout the Bible you will scriptures that encourage your to pray, often times it is for our benefit. This scriptures is giving us instruction for the peace of God to remain in our lives. This explains that when we pray for everything instead of worrying it enacts God’s promise that His peace will come in to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. He also encourages us to pray so we will not fall into temptation (Mark 14:38), to be faithful in prayer (Romans 12:12) and even to humble ourselves and pray for those that do wrong to us (Matthew 5:44).

Prayer is a privilege, just think about it. The almighty God, creator of the universe wants to spend time with us, telling us secrets and giving us the dominion to bring change in the earth. You may not understand this fully but YOUR prayers can move heaven and earth.