Prayer

My sister wrote an interesting post yesterday which made me think...What is prayer? Why do we pray? Does prayer accomplish anything? Does it help to have lots of people pray about your want, need? If I pray for a person, will God consider saving them? I've pondered these questions yesterday and last night, and woke up thinking about them this morning. This is enough to shake a persons faith. As you all know I believe in a sovereign God, that is over all things, that knows the ending and outcomes as well as the beginnings. He knows when we suffer, He knows when we're happy, content, as well as when we are broken hearted. What role does prayer play in the christian life?
This is what wickipedia says about prayer:
For other uses, see Prayer (disambiguation).

Prayer is an active effort to communicate with a deity or spirit either to offer praise, to make a request, seek guidance, confess sins, or simply to express one's thoughts and emotions. The words of the prayer may either be a set hymn or incantation, or a spontaneous utterance in the praying person's own words.

This is something I found on the WWW.

Why Should We Pray – To whom do we pray?
Before we can answer, “why should we pray,” we must know to whom we pray. There is only one supreme Creator and sovereign God. There is only one way to Him and that is through His only- Son, Jesus Christ. God, our Heavenly Father, is the only one we can be assured of who hears and answers our prayers. He is the God of amazing love, mercy, and forgiveness.



By Him, all things are possible. Jesus says in Mark 10:27, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God."
Daniel 9:18 tells us: “We do not ask because we deserve help, but because you are so merciful.” (Mercy means showing favor, compassion, and kindness.)
God’s ultimate demonstration of love is forgiveness of the sins each of us have committed. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it” (John 3:16-17).
He is the only God who has done this, and is the only God able to do so. But His enemy, Satan, has sent many false gods to deceive mankind. Do not be deceived nor allow anything or anyone to take priority over the only true and living God.

Why Should We Pray – For what do we pray?
Prayer is the key to the heart of God. Prayer is the only way to a real and personal relationship with God.

Pray acknowledging He is God, and that you accept His gracious gift, Jesus Christ, as your Lord and Savior (Genesis 17:1, Romans 6:16-18).
Pray confessing our sins and accepting His forgiveness (Romans 3:23-26).
Pray that His will be done in our lives, that His Holy Spirit guide us, and that we be filled with the fullness of all God has for us.
Pray for (spiritual) understanding and wisdom (Proverbs 2:6-8, 3:5).
Pray with thanksgiving for all the ways He blesses us (Philippians 4:6. Pray when we are ill, lonely, going through trials or interceding for others (James 5:14-16, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
Pray to worship Him (Psalm 95:6-7).
There is nothing we can’t pray about. There are abundant references to prayer in the Bible. The Bible tells us to “pray without ceasing” and “in everything give thanks to the Lord.” When we choose to have a positive attitude, we realize we have received many blessings for which to give God praise.

We find intimacy with God through communicating with Him in prayer. We go to Him in faith, knowing that He hears and answers all our prayers (1 John 5:14). Be confident that God knows and wants what is best for us; so ask that His will be done in all we seek from Him. Then, thank Him for it, even though it hasn’t happened yet.

Why Should We Pray – How do we pray?
Jesus gave his disciples, what we call, “The Lord’s Prayer” (Matthew 6) as a model.

In addition, Hebrews 4:14-16 tells us we can pray boldly -- “That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to him and never stop trusting him. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.”

Above all, pray with sincerity, honor, and humbleness before the Almighty God. “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results” (James 5:16).

So I guess I'm back to where I was...
WE SHOULD PRAY, because the bible tells us to. No other reason needed. If we believe the bible (and I do) and if we have faith and seek to please God we should be obedient to His word. Sovereign God, over all, knows all, knows what we are going to ask before we ask, says to PRAY without ceasing... and so I continue to tell God, through His son, my wants, needs, desires, heartaches, and I trust, because the Lord knows I don't understand.
Thanks for your thought provoking post Carol!