God Can Do Anything And Is In Control
In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth; everything seen and unseen has their beginnings in God (John 1:3). All things that were created are joined and held together by Him (Colossians 1:17). There is not a breath that we breathe that didn’t first find its origin in God (Isaiah 42:5). The sovereignty of God is a major truth that we hold. God can do anything He wants; He has no limits to His power.
God is also the smartest being in the universe. Whatever He decides to do will be the best thing that could happen. He is outside time and see that beginning and the end (Isaiah 46:10), for He is the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13). Every day we are going to live was known by God before we were born (Psalm 139:16). Nothing takes Him by surprise, and nothing can block His purposes (Isaiah 55:11).
God’s glory is manifested by His goodness (Exodus 33:18-19). He is kind and loving and works out everything for the good those of us who love Him (Romans 8:28). He is compassionate to all He has created (Psalm 145:9). If we have any idea of what is good, how much more is our Heavenly Father aware and able to give us good things (Matthew 7:11).
What is the Propose of Prayer?
With all of this being true, many people talk themselves out of prayer because they don’t see any reason for it. If God is already in control and already knows the best thing to do, why should we get in His way? How could my prayers add anything to what God is already going to do?
I feel it is important to spell all of this out because many people struggle with prayer and don’t actually understand why they struggle. They know God commands prayer, so they just struggle to get it done. I feel if we don’t know the reason we really struggle, then we will never find any consistent success in setting aside time to pray.
Why Are We Still On Earth?
Beside the obvious answer of being commanded to pray, it is best to remember that God left us here on earth for a reason. He could have easily made it possible for people to go directly to heaven once they accepted Jesus into their lives. He didn’t, and He had a reason for this.
What was the reason God left us? He wanted us to fulfill the great commission. But this is more than just making Christian believer; we are commanded to disciple nations.
Why Should We Pray?
I want to highlight this part of the Great Commission because I want to highlight how impossible the request God laid before us. He wants us to do the impossible, which is only possible with His help. God wants us to partner with Him to bring heaven to earth.
We don’t know how to do this, nor do we have the power. We pray to gain both from God.
Prayer is not telling God how to do things. Pray really should not even be mainly about us asking God for things, unless they are things that He has told you He wants to give you. Prayer is maintaining our connection with God, so we may have His wisdom and connect to His power.
God Limits Himself So That We Can Partner With Him
God can do everything on His own – He created the heavens and the earth without our help. But now, He wants us to partner with Him. He wants us to bring change into the world. We need to step up and take Him into places that need more of Him.
Through prayer we gain the courage to walk into an ungodly situation and bring His presence through our words or actions. But, also we can pray God’s presence into situations we might never physically walk into but can still have a very real effect.
God Wants Us To Be Like Him
When you pray, you listen for what God is speaking about the situation and pray His will over it. It is not twisting God’s arm to get Him to act, but releasing things spiritually in motion to bring change.
God created everything in the beginning by speaking them into being. Our words in prayer can have the same effect as we partner with God. We were created to be like God, and the more we spend time with Him in prayer, the more we start becoming like Him.
Why should we pray? We pray because God knows it is beneficial to us. We pray because it makes us more like Him. And, we pray because it is how we bring about the Great Commission.