Why Should We Pray?

For several years, my church has held a men’s “retreat�? at a beautiful, remote location in mid-southern Ohio. The “retreat�?—my comments on that title later—starts tonight and continues through Saturday. This year, our theme is prayer. I hope to comment on each message for my memory’s sake and your spiritual benefit and our mutual discussion. The thoughts of these articles are not original with me but shared by the speakers of the retreat. My concise version of their thoughts will appear in the block quotes, and I will comment when something particularly brings thoughts. Why should we pray? David Miller David started his presentation in a way that changed my perspective on the rest of his talk. He quoted from Desiring God by John Piper, a strong Calvinist. From this first impression, I had sparked interest over what David would have to say while looking at prayer through the eyes of at least a partial Calvinist.

Imagine that you’re a quadriplegic. The same need that you would have on another to care for you is what we have to God through prayer. Your constantly calling on that helper to enable you to do something makes evident your reliance on that person for your every need. Continual prayer also reflects our constant dependence on One stronger that we. Prayer is: open admission that, without God, we can do nothing turning to God in confidence that He will provide what we need If all that we have to do for our needs is to ask, then why don’t we? Often, it seems this is because we don’t know or understand the Lord enough. This is usually the cause for failure in our prayer lives. Can you imagine asking intimate needs of a stranger? Prayer glorifies God because when our prayers are answered, He gets the glory Psalm 50:15 shows that God is glorified by delivering us. He acts, and we are delivered. It is no act of our own, but only of the Lord and thus He alone is worthy of praise and honor to His name. Psalm 50:12—God does not require anything of us but our dependence. In Mark, Jesus says that He did not come to be served, but to serve. So many other religions require its followers to work for their “salvation,�? but Christianity is one of the few—if not the only one—that requires our faith in One to give us salvation. When we don’t wait for God, we rob Him of an opportunity to glorify Himself.

This is a surprising statement coming from one who at least sounds to be partial Calvinist. Many Calvinists with whom I have discussed prayer have expressed that God works through all actions, good and bad: that regardless of our prayer and actions, God still glorifies Himself. Of course, this is inconsistent with the rest of Scripture that shows that God is glorified when we willingly seek and obey His will. This is a crucial part of prayer because we, by ourselves, have no idea what is righteous unless we know God. And only when we follow God’s Word can we truly glorify him through actions in accordance with His perfect will.

God is looking for someone who will allow Him to show himself strong. We have to give up and hang up our “help wanted�? sign to God. That is when He will come to work for us because He has the opportunity to be the giver. Jesus came to help those who need it, not those who are already “righteous.�? It comes down to our perspective. It’s taking our needs to God and expecting Him to perform. “Ask and you will receive.�? We pray in pursuit of God’s glory and pursuit of our joy.

I’m not so sure that I agree with his conclusion. Although I do see prayer leading to joy, that seems primarily from the fact that true prayer is fellowship with the Lord. Just like we leave fellowship with friends in good spirits, prayer is a renewal by drawing closer to God and communicating more with Him. Relationship and faith should be our purpose in prayer. I’ll need to look at this further, but I probably won’t get to because probably every post will end with that tagline. After David’s session, we will gather around the traditional camp-style fire, where there is no power. And because my battery is already low, I may not get very good notes in the dark. Please comment! I want to know your thoughts and beliefs regarding these topics.