Last night at our Sunday Night Study (Essential Teachings of the Christian Faith), we discussed the concept of God’s Immutability (i.e. that God does not change). Not only does God’s character and nature never change (Psalm 102:25-27), the Scriptures are clear that His plans and purposes are also unchanging: "The plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." ( Psalm 33:11)
With this in mind, we pondered the paradox of prayer: If God is in control of all things and His purposes will be accomplished then why should we pray?
The first answer to this question is rather simple: Because God commands us to pray! (Matthew 6:5-13; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thess. 5:17, James 5:13-16, Jude 1:20) And not just some of the time, at all times and in all places. That alone should be sufficient motivation for a believer.
But now, let’s go a little deeper: why does God want us to pray? Clearly, He doesn’t need our prayers to accomplish things. God is not like Tinker Bell who is too weak to act until enough children join in the chant : “I do believe in fairies…I do believe in fairies!” God is not waiting for our prayers to untie His hands so He can finally bless us and do things for us He’s been longing to do. "Our God is in Heaven, He does whatever He pleases." (Psalm 115:3) He feels many emotions, but He is never frustrated.
To answer this question, we looked to Jesus and the two basic reasons for prayer that He gives to His disciples in the Gospel of John:
• And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:13-14)
• In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (John 16:23-24)
It appears that the sole purpose of prayer is to bring God glory through Jesus Christ and at the same time to bring us joy in Jesus Christ. This, of course, should come as no surprise since glorifying God and enjoying Him forever is the sole purpose of our existence.
Prayer does not change the plans and purposes of God and it certainly does not cause God to do things He’d rather not do. Prayer does not supply God’s needs; it is an acknowledgement of our needs. So here is a brief summary of why God commands prayer and works primarily through our prayers:
In prayer, we are giving God our full attention and waiting on Him to act on our behalf. He commands us to pray so that when He acts we will not only receive His gifts, we will also see and rejoice in His glory! God is most passionate about the display of His glory and He loves us too much to let us miss the surpassing greatness of His Son. (Phil. 3:8)