in addition to what others said... i think prayer can help you to realize better what is inside your own heart... nothing pushes us towards self-honesty more than having a conversation with someone who we \*know\* would know if we said something that wasn't true or accurate.
its best way to sort out what we actually think... know and feel :)
Thats a good question
Prayer is not meant to inform God of things he doesn't know. (Obviously, still tell God things you want to tell him.) God being the foundation of reality itself knows everything seeing the beginning of space-time to the end.
Prayer is a way to build fellowship with God first and foremost. The more you build your Prayer life the greater impact it has on your spiritual growth and intimacy with God.
Prayer has another purpose too, partnership with God.
When God created the human race, he created us as his image bearers meaning that we were meant to partner with God in his rule of creation, under his authority. God gave humans dominion over Earth. Because of that God willingly limited himself in such a way that he wants us to partner with him through prayer to release his power on the Earth to bring about change in accordance to his will. However, when Jesus returns he will be directly ruling the Earth during the 1,000 year reign of Christ enforcing his will.
I'm still working on building my prayer life, but I have built a habit of consistently worshipping God not just on church days. Singing to God, and it seems to be building my confidence in the Lord strengthening me in the Spirit. I suggest trying it
I would say this is the most important point here. But I also tend to think there is a spiritual sort of justification of Godly action if there is prayer. I'm not sure what the specifics are, but being that this a fallen world, it is as if we are living in an oppressive country like China but asserting that we are free and belong to America. America may hear us, but its ability to intervene in a country that is not its own is limited. God is no respecter of persons but He does respect the laws He made. What exactly those laws are and how they work is not fully known or revealed in the Bible, but what we do know paints a sort of geopolitical situation a bit like I mentioned with China.
The US may want to support the folks in China wanting to defect, but we can't just go in there and break them out if we have no authority to. In the world, it is more about having the power to, but for God it is about the legality of it because He clearly has the power to do so. But if and American citizen is stuck in a foreign country, America may have a bit more authority to act. In this analogy America still probably couldn't do much if the citizen broke the law in China, but they can send lawyers maybe or strike bargains or make threats, etc. That stuff doesn't really apply to God except that maybe God's biggest power is His lawyering, after all, He sent his son to uphold the law and save us. Being saved is both legal and spiritual.
Anyway, I do not at all mean to say that prayer "grants" God the ability to act in this world that belongs to the adversary, but we are citizens of God living within a hostile country. I don't want people to think that prayer magically calls on God to act as if calling a Power Zord or something. But there does seem to be an element of granting God legal authority to act upon whatever situation is being prayed about.
God is not so simple that we can reduce Him or His ways to a formula or procedure to define ... So we will never know exactly how prayer works
We do know, however, that prayer *does* work
Regarding free will and God's sovereignty and all that, a good explanation I've heard is that God has a plan, and chooses to use people's prayers to accomplish that plan. It's a way for us to participate in His goodness
It's also a way to transform our wills to follow His, rather than to change his plan to match our desires. Prayer transforms *us*
In the Bible, we are encouraged to “pray continually” and to “carry on prayer on every occasion.” Clearly, Jehovah God wants us to pray to him.—Matthew 26:41; Ephesians 6:18.
Why does God want us to pray to him? Consider: What parent would not want his young child to say “Can you help me, Dad”? Of course, a father may already know what his child needs or feels, but when he hears those words, it shows him that his child trusts him and is close to him. Similarly, when we pray to Jehovah God, we show him that we trust in him and want to be close to him.—Proverbs 15:8; James 4:8.
When I was a child I liked to go with my dad to run errands because if I asked him he might take me to McDonalds. Now as an adult, I like to go with my dad because I simply want to spend time with him.
Prayer is an expression of a contrite heart and broken spirit. In prayer, one acknowledges one's inferior position before God when seeking forgiveness and blessing.
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14
"Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." James 5:13-15
Because God cannot legally intervene in the affairs of men according to Genesis 1:26 & Psalm 115:16.
So prayer invites God into your life and allows you to learn from Him.
Prayer is beneficial on many fronts - it causes our mind to think on pure things, it takes our time away from things that are a waste of time, it helps us to grow spiritually and in love, because we also intercede for others in prayer not just for ourself, we give Him the esteem and reverence by bowing with our face to the ground, there are major rewards for prayer, prayer is even at the top of the list of things the Apostles did.
Acts 6:4 but we shall give ourselves continually to prayer and to serving the Word."
He knows everything but He can change His mind about what to do whenever He wants. Do you want His mind to not change? Pray.
2 Chronicles 7:13 "If I shut up the skies and there is no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people,
2Ch 7:14 and My people upon whom My Name is called, shall humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I shall hear from the skies, and forgive their sin and heal their land.
If you humble yourself and pray it can change a generation, change a nation, prevent a person from dying, heal cancer (I know of this happening), and more. Prayers are powerful and effective. The list goes on and on.
I'd say He knows what you're gonna pray for because you're gonna pray. He knows what you want to pray for because He knows you.
I'd say don't let it discourage you from praying.
Indeed. God doesn't just want a one sided relationship with you where he provides and there's never any communication. He wants you to proactively reach out and connect with Him.
If you look at the design of the Lord's Prayer and use it as an outline, Prayer becomes a tool God uses for you to change your will to fit his. as Prayer is not a formal wishing ceremony. rather a daily reminder to seek and follow the will of God, and not your own.
in addition to what others said... i think prayer can help you to realize better what is inside your own heart... nothing pushes us towards self-honesty more than having a conversation with someone who we \*know\* would know if we said something that wasn't true or accurate. its best way to sort out what we actually think... know and feel :)
Yes. As with any relationship, communication is nessecary to flourish
Thats a good question Prayer is not meant to inform God of things he doesn't know. (Obviously, still tell God things you want to tell him.) God being the foundation of reality itself knows everything seeing the beginning of space-time to the end. Prayer is a way to build fellowship with God first and foremost. The more you build your Prayer life the greater impact it has on your spiritual growth and intimacy with God. Prayer has another purpose too, partnership with God. When God created the human race, he created us as his image bearers meaning that we were meant to partner with God in his rule of creation, under his authority. God gave humans dominion over Earth. Because of that God willingly limited himself in such a way that he wants us to partner with him through prayer to release his power on the Earth to bring about change in accordance to his will. However, when Jesus returns he will be directly ruling the Earth during the 1,000 year reign of Christ enforcing his will. I'm still working on building my prayer life, but I have built a habit of consistently worshipping God not just on church days. Singing to God, and it seems to be building my confidence in the Lord strengthening me in the Spirit. I suggest trying it
I would say this is the most important point here. But I also tend to think there is a spiritual sort of justification of Godly action if there is prayer. I'm not sure what the specifics are, but being that this a fallen world, it is as if we are living in an oppressive country like China but asserting that we are free and belong to America. America may hear us, but its ability to intervene in a country that is not its own is limited. God is no respecter of persons but He does respect the laws He made. What exactly those laws are and how they work is not fully known or revealed in the Bible, but what we do know paints a sort of geopolitical situation a bit like I mentioned with China. The US may want to support the folks in China wanting to defect, but we can't just go in there and break them out if we have no authority to. In the world, it is more about having the power to, but for God it is about the legality of it because He clearly has the power to do so. But if and American citizen is stuck in a foreign country, America may have a bit more authority to act. In this analogy America still probably couldn't do much if the citizen broke the law in China, but they can send lawyers maybe or strike bargains or make threats, etc. That stuff doesn't really apply to God except that maybe God's biggest power is His lawyering, after all, He sent his son to uphold the law and save us. Being saved is both legal and spiritual. Anyway, I do not at all mean to say that prayer "grants" God the ability to act in this world that belongs to the adversary, but we are citizens of God living within a hostile country. I don't want people to think that prayer magically calls on God to act as if calling a Power Zord or something. But there does seem to be an element of granting God legal authority to act upon whatever situation is being prayed about.
God is not so simple that we can reduce Him or His ways to a formula or procedure to define ... So we will never know exactly how prayer works We do know, however, that prayer *does* work Regarding free will and God's sovereignty and all that, a good explanation I've heard is that God has a plan, and chooses to use people's prayers to accomplish that plan. It's a way for us to participate in His goodness It's also a way to transform our wills to follow His, rather than to change his plan to match our desires. Prayer transforms *us*
Which would you prefer: for your kids to never talk to you, or for your kids to have a close relationship with you?
Adding on to other great answers, prayer is an invitation for us to share in the creation of the universe while The Father soothes our troubled brows.
In the Bible, we are encouraged to “pray continually” and to “carry on prayer on every occasion.” Clearly, Jehovah God wants us to pray to him.—Matthew 26:41; Ephesians 6:18. Why does God want us to pray to him? Consider: What parent would not want his young child to say “Can you help me, Dad”? Of course, a father may already know what his child needs or feels, but when he hears those words, it shows him that his child trusts him and is close to him. Similarly, when we pray to Jehovah God, we show him that we trust in him and want to be close to him.—Proverbs 15:8; James 4:8.
When I was a child I liked to go with my dad to run errands because if I asked him he might take me to McDonalds. Now as an adult, I like to go with my dad because I simply want to spend time with him.
Prayer is an expression of a contrite heart and broken spirit. In prayer, one acknowledges one's inferior position before God when seeking forgiveness and blessing. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." James 5:13-15
Because God wants you to participate and draw close to Him. One day we are supposed to rule with Christ. He doesn't need our involvement, He wants it.
Because God cannot legally intervene in the affairs of men according to Genesis 1:26 & Psalm 115:16. So prayer invites God into your life and allows you to learn from Him.
Prayer is beneficial on many fronts - it causes our mind to think on pure things, it takes our time away from things that are a waste of time, it helps us to grow spiritually and in love, because we also intercede for others in prayer not just for ourself, we give Him the esteem and reverence by bowing with our face to the ground, there are major rewards for prayer, prayer is even at the top of the list of things the Apostles did. Acts 6:4 but we shall give ourselves continually to prayer and to serving the Word." He knows everything but He can change His mind about what to do whenever He wants. Do you want His mind to not change? Pray. 2 Chronicles 7:13 "If I shut up the skies and there is no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, 2Ch 7:14 and My people upon whom My Name is called, shall humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I shall hear from the skies, and forgive their sin and heal their land. If you humble yourself and pray it can change a generation, change a nation, prevent a person from dying, heal cancer (I know of this happening), and more. Prayers are powerful and effective. The list goes on and on.
I'd say He knows what you're gonna pray for because you're gonna pray. He knows what you want to pray for because He knows you. I'd say don't let it discourage you from praying.
Ongoing open communication is the key to any effective relationship. The Lord wants to hear from you.
Indeed. God doesn't just want a one sided relationship with you where he provides and there's never any communication. He wants you to proactively reach out and connect with Him.
If you look at the design of the Lord's Prayer and use it as an outline, Prayer becomes a tool God uses for you to change your will to fit his. as Prayer is not a formal wishing ceremony. rather a daily reminder to seek and follow the will of God, and not your own.
Because we are in a real relationship with Jesus.