Why Should You Pray?

The prayer of the believer is more than communicating with God by voicing our needs, our wants and His will for our lives - it’s an intimate fellowship with our heavenly Father. This allows us to take hold of the promises God has given us in His Word and pray them into this earthly realm. It’s how we bring what’s in heaven to earth. It’s what Jesus prayed: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). Prayer is where we get our will into agreement with God’s will. Prayer is how we invite God into this world to enact change.

What have you prayed for lately? Whatever it is, God is as ready and willing to answer your prayers as He was willing to answer Jesus’ prayers. And when we pray according to the Word of God, God goes to work, and our circumstances begin to change.

That’s why we pray – to see God’s will done in this earth. Isn’t that what we want more than anything? The will of God for our lives, our families and everyone else around us? How good it is that we can rest knowing it is His will that each and every one of us be saved, forgiven, loving, healthy, prosperous, strong, generous, kind, tenderhearted, patient, joyful, peaceful, thoughtful, good, faithful and even more! The Word is full of God’s attributes – attributes that are His will for us to develop in ourselves as we mature spiritually. What a blessing it is, then, that prayer is the gateway for His will to happen.

And yet, all too often, we let prayer go. We forget to pray. We neglect praying. We get too busy to pray, letting our lives become full of other things – until a crisis hits Then we scramble to pray and call upon the Name of the Lord. God, in His mercy and goodness, hears our prayers – always, no matter when we pray them or how long it’s been since we prayed. But the will of God is for us to pray all the time. Always. Without stopping. And our prayers are already working on our behalf, because when we pray the Word of God, the Word goes to work (Isaiah 55:11).

It was Paul who wrote, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Never stop praying! How do we do that? How is it possible? By praying with “all manner of prayer,” as Ephesians 6:18 says: “Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people)” (AMPC).

Someone once asked Smith Wigglesworth how long he prayed. His answer was that he rarely prayed over 15 minutes, but that he rarely went 15 minutes without praying. His point was that he prayed all the time!

There’s More Than One Way To Pray

The Bible is full of examples of people who prayed; and interestingly enough, they prayed in a myriad of ways. What’s more, there are passages and principles in Scripture that show us different ways to fellowship with God – to connect with Him, to communicate with Him. Here are a few that illustrate different kinds of prayer.

The Prayer of Faith: To release our faith in prayer, we first go to the Word of God and find scriptures regarding our prayer request. Then, we pray those verses and stand in faith until they come to pass. James 5:13-15 tells us, “Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.”

The Prayer of Agreement: This is the prayer found in Matthew 18:19-20, in which Jesus said, “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have often said that while any two believers agreeing brings results, there’s no greater power than a husband and wife praying in agreement because of the power of their covenant relationship. For everything Kenneth and Gloria have wanted and needed to see come to pass, they have prayed the Prayer of Agreement.

The Prayer of Petition: A petition is defined as “a formal written request addressed to a sovereign superior for a particular right or grace.” When we petition God, we first go to His Word to find His will about our request. Then, we write it out as a formal request, because “this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15, NKJV). He gives us a “heavenly grant” (John 16:23-24).

And there are more…like The Prayer of Supplication, The Prayer of Praise and Thanksgiving, and The Prayer of Consecration. And of course, any heartfelt prayer we utter, however we pray it, God hears.

What To Do When We Don’t Know What To Pray

When we don’t know what to pray, it’s easy to not pray, but again, God wants us to pray. So, when we hit a wall and aren’t sure how to voice our prayers, we can pray in the Holy Spirit. We can pray with the help of the Helper Jesus gave us. “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will” (Romans 8:26-28).

The Holy Spirit helps us pray out mysteries – things we don’t know or understand, but that need to be brought to light in our lives or in situations in this earthly realm. “For one who speaks in an [unknown] tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the [Holy] Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things [not obvious to the understanding]” (1 Corinthians 14:2, AMPC).

Rest and Trust, Knowing Jesus Is Interceding for Us In Prayer

When Jesus rose from the dead and later ascended into heaven, He sat down at the right hand of the Father. “Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne” (Hebrews 12:2). From His place next to His Father, Jesus intercedes for us continually: “Therefore He is able also to save to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity) those who come to God through Him, since He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them” (Hebrews 7:25, AMPC).

In addition to all that we can pray, there is nothing more comforting to our prayers or more powerful at work than knowing Jesus is interceding for us – to know that Jesus is praying out the perfect will of God for our lives.

How Can We Not Pray?

With all this said, how can we not pray? How can we not give voice to God’s will that He wants done in this earth? In our lives? In the lives of our family and friends? In our church? In our community? In our nation?

Why Should You Pray?

Because God said to. Because God wants you to. Because prayer is how you bring what’s in the heavenly realm into your world. Because prayer is one more way you can walk in God’s will and declare it in this world!

The next time you’re facing a dilemma, a crisis or even the impossible, pray.

The next time you wake up or get ready to fall asleep, pray.

The next time you think about a problem, a person or a situation, pray.

The time you don’t know what to do, pray.

The next time you feel concern, pray.

The next time you’re rejoicing, pray.

The next time you’re worshipping, pray.

The next time you don’t know what to pray, pray. In the spirit. With your spirit. The next time you pray, pray some more. Pray without ceasing.