THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER
and
PRAYER REQUESTS

Part of the mystery of prayer is related to the fact that God interacts with us in two different ways. First, as the Creator over his creation, he knows and understands all things. It is from this perspective, that nothing surprises him. It is from this perspective that he already knows the good he is going to do in the lives of those who love him.

At the same time, God also relates to us on a person-to-person level. When we pray, he takes delight in us and in our desire to talk to him. He knows our heart (because of his interaction with us as the Creator), so he knows when our prayer is genuine... and he delights in our expression of love.

When we pray, there is a sense in which our prayer is not for God. First, we don't pray for the purpose of informing God about situations in our life - as though he had no idea of what was happening in our lives. He already knows everything, and is not surprised by anything we might say. Second, we don't pray for the purpose of trying to get God to do what we want - to get him to conform himself to our will. This would be totally backwards, for God is greater than we; he is not our servant!

From this perspective, prayer is for us: it is for our good. Prayer is part of the means by which we build our relationship with God. It is also an opportunity for us to learn to agree with God.

God communicates his will to us through his Word; we express our thoughts to God through prayer. As already mentioned, God already knows what we are going to say. But as we reflect on God's will (as expressed in his Word) and compare it to our thoughts, desires and values (as expressed in our prayers), we may discover that our will does not always match God's. We may discover that there are areas of our life which need to change.

As these changes take place, our values will begin to line-up with God's will, and the way we pray will change. Asking for things will not be the primary focus of our prayer. In fact, we will discover that we want to spend time talking to God, simply to express praise, worship and thanks to him, because of who he is!

As our values change, our focus will become less self-centered. This will impact all of our prayer, for we will begin to desire what God desires. When we do ask for things, our prayers will cease to be a mere "shopping list" of our own wants and desires. They will begin to be an expression of God's will - at least, we will strive to make it that way. (Since we are not yet perfect, our prayers may be influenced by a mixture of motives - some of which we might not realize at the time.)

Even when we are uncertain of God's will in a matter, we will have a desire for him to answer in a way that will bring the greatest honor and glory to him, and which will accomplish the most good for others. These desires will begin to eclipse any desires we may have for self.

When our values have changed to the point that our hearts begin to cry out, "Your will be done" (Matthew 6:10; 26:39, 42, 44), we will know with certainty that our prayers will be answered. After all, we will only be asking God to do what he already wants to do, and what he promises to do!

Dennis Hinks © 2001
041222