Rev. Jim Jackson, Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church
Why pray? Seems to me like that’s a good question.
We believers assert that God is both all knowing and loving.
So why pray? Why not just let him do his thing without our interference? Let’s say I have a very sick friend for whom I am gravely concerned. Shall I approach the God of the universe, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to inform him of my friend’s condition and plead for HIs loving intervention? Must we beg God before he heads our request?
See what I mean? Well, that’s why I call it a mystery. Does prayer as a mystery mean that I drop it from my list of spiritual disciplines? No. And here’s why.
I found twenty-times in the New Testament describing Jesus at prayer. A few examples: his baptism, the raising of Lazarus, the Lord’s prayer, prayer on behalf of his disciples, when on the cross, and before his assertion. Bible characters prayed also.
Abraham prayed for Sodom and Gomorrah. Jacob wrestled with God in prayer. Hannah prayed for a son. David confessed his sin in prayer.
Jonah prayed from the belly of a huge fish, and Paul prayed while in prison.
As I see it, our prayer requests must be accompanied with a willingness to obey God’s will, meaning his answers to our prayers. And so it was when Jesus prayed that the cross be deleted from his future. We don’t need to pray that God will become more loving or aware. Having prayed, we then submit to the options given to us by his Holy Spirit. Jesus answered God’s “no” with: “Not my will but thy will be done.”
Perhaps that’s my answer to why we should pray. It’s an act of submission. We say as much when we offer God the prayer Jesus gave his disciples in the Lord’s prayer. “Thy will be done on earth (my life) as in heaven. We pray with confidence the promise of the Bible: “The fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much.” (James 5:16) Reason enough.