Why Do We Pray

Prayer is one of the most powerful, loving ways to be close to God and build a relationship with him, it is also one way to show love to our loved ones. And, quite often we use prayer to get something from God. When we are in trouble or afraid or when we are ill. We pray when we are looking for answers to our life’s challenges. But how often do we pray for the people we love the most? And, how often do we pray for our neighbors and friends or people who need God in their hearts? While some of us may pray for all of those we love, I think it’s safe to say that usually we pray for the practical things like health and safety or work and other needs that come to mind at that moment.

It is only natural that we want to pray for someone to be healed or for someone to have a good life. Such prayers, while are still important and by no means we should stop praying for those things, we need to also pray for the things that have deeper and longer lasting spiritual meaning. Those type of prayers may not come as easy, sometimes we may not even see results for years. Praying for the lost, the people that don’t have God in their lives, the type of prayers that move mountains, the kind that change the course of someone’s life. These types of prayers require more focus and we may not see immediate answers to our prayers, but with time if we pray with faith and hope and desperation, we will witness the results, we will see God’s answer to our prayers.

So, next time we pray for others, we should not only pray to get things from God but we should pray to get more of God himself. Pray not just to receive but to experience God’s love for us.

That according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breath and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. - Ephesians 3:16-19