Why Do Christians Pray?

Why pray? Will God hear our prayers? Does He care? Does prayer really make a difference? What can we realistically expect from God when we pray?

There are many good and important reasons why you should pray. In fact, it would be of great benefit for you to study the Scriptures to find out what they teach about why you should pray. Let me highlight just the two most essential reasons you should pray.

1. God Commands We Pray

You should pray because the Word of God commands you to pray. This should be all the reasoning we need to govern our attitude and actions toward prayer. As Christians, our chief concern in determining how we should view a subject is to answer this question: “What does the Word of God say about it?” If you are like me, you have a long way to go in submitting every area of your life to the authority of Christ. But our attitude must be there before our actions can catch up.

As a teenager, I was given a bumper sticker that reads: “If it’s God’s will, I will.” I still have it in my study to constantly remind me that He deserves and demands my total allegiance, unconditional surrender, and complete obedience. This is why I am committed to be steadfast in prayer, even though my flesh constantly struggles against it. Prayer is an act of obedience to God. Even if there were no practical benefits to prayer (and there are many), we should be devoted to prayer simply because the Word of God commands it.

Scripture does not present prayer as an optional response to life’s challenges. Prayer is a divine mandate. The prophet exhorted, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6). “Call to me and I will answer you,” says the Lord, “and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” (Jeremiah 33:3). In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus declared, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). The apostle Paul instructs, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). James asked, “Is anyone . . . suffering?” Then he advised, “Let him pray” (James 5:13).

Prayer is our Christian duty. It is an expression of submission to God and dependence upon Him. For that matter, prayer is arguably the most objective measurement of our dependence upon God. Think of it this way. The things you pray about are the things you trust God to handle. The things you neglect to pray about are the things you trust you can handle on your own.

Can you see why God commands us to pray? Prayer reflects our confidence in the heavenly Father to care for our needs. When my kids ask me for something, I typically respond by reminding them their dad is a “poor black preacher.” But this does not discourage them in the least, even when they are asking for something I really can’t afford. Their confidence in their father’s ability to provide for them brings me so much joy. Moreover, God the Father delights in His children bringing their needs and wants to Him in prayer. It brings glory to the Father to respond to His children who pray in faith. But it grieves the Father when we take our problems to others but refuse to pray.

Believing prayer is our sacred duty to the heavenly Father. “Continuing steadfast in prayer,” instructs Paul, “being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2). What does it mean to “continue steadfastly in prayer”? It means to be devoted, fervent, and persistent in prayer. Let me bottom-line that for you: Don’t stop praying!

“Only a good and wise and sovereign God like ours would make prayer a duty and a privilege at the same time.”

Be constant in prayer. Do whatever it takes to maintain and sustain your prayer life. Keep your heart in a posture of prayer before God. Pray for the will of God by praying according to the Word of God. Set a time every day for prayer and Scripture intake. Establish a personal prayer list. Develop friendships with other believers with whom you can partner in prayer. Pray when you feel like it. Pray when you don’t feel like it. Pray until you feel like it. Ruth Bell Graham said it well: “Pray when you feel like it, for it is a sin to neglect such an opportunity. Pray when you don’t feel like it, for it is dangerous to remain in such a condition.”

The words of the beloved hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” have become a part of my personal theology. I know they are just words of a song, not the divine revelation of Scripture. But they are true, nonetheless.

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

I have lived long enough to know and accept the fact that some pain is necessary, inevitable, and even beneficial. I fully accept this reality. But I have determined that I do not want to experience any needless pains. If I do not have to experience it, I don’t want to. Yet the truth is that we have all suffered unnecessarily, because we did not take everything to God in prayer.

Before you read another paragraph, pause and simply renew your commitment to the duty of prayer. Ask the Lord to help you continue steadfastly in prayer.

2. Prayer Is a Privilege

After obedience to the Word of God, there is another essential reason you should be devoted to prayer: Only a good and wise and sovereign God like ours would make prayer a duty and a privilege at the same time.

Let me say that again. Prayer is a privilege. It is not a burdensome duty. It is a wonderful privilege. Even though Scripture commands us to pray, we should not view prayer as something we have to do. We should view is as something we get to do.

It is a privilege to have an audience before the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. The blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ has given us access to the throne of grace. Every redeemed follower of Christ is granted an open door before the Lord Almighty. We can approach God in prayer with confidence. There we can obtain the grace and mercy we need (see Hebrews 4:16). Yet the privilege of prayer is greater still. Not only does God command us to bring our needs to Him; He also promises to hear and answer our prayers.

“Why should I pray?” you ask. Answer: Prayer works! More accurately, God works when we pray. When we work, we work. When we pray, God works. Charles Spurgeon said, “Prayer is the slender nerve that moves the arm of omnipotence.”  

In Ephesians 3:14–19, Paul makes some incredible requests on the behalf of the saints. In a prayer for spiritual enablement, he asks that the saints would be able to “know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge” (v. 19).

Come again? How can you know something that is beyond knowledge? That’s incredible. However, Paul’s remarkable prayer requests begin to make sense when you read the doxology in the next verse: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (v. 20). This truth applies to every prayer you pray. God is more than able to answer your prayers. What a promise! What ever you are thinking about or asking for, God is able to do far more than that for you.

Do not misunderstand me. You should not view prayer as some rigged slot machine that gives you a jackpot every time you make a request. I am not advocating “prosperity theology.” I am not claiming that you can write your own ticket with God by faith. Prayer does not guarantee your life will be an unbroken cycle of health, wealth, success, and happiness. Prayer doesn’t work that way.

God Answers Prayers According to His Will

I believe in the exhaustive sovereignty of God, which is just a fancy way of saying that God is God. That is, God is God alone. This means that our prayers do not put God under obligation to do whatever we ask. It does not matter how long you pray. It does not matter how loud you cry. It does not matter how many verses you quote or promises you claim. It does not matter how many so-called positive confessions you make. As you pray, you must remember who God is. You must also remember where God is. Our God is in heaven, doing whatever pleases Him (Psalm 103:19). This is the basis upon which God answers prayer. God works all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11).

I had a head-on collision with this reality when I was sixteen years old. I was invited to Detroit to preach a weeklong youth revival. This was a big deal. I had never been that far away from home for that long to preach. I was beyond excited. But when it was time to leave, I had mixed emotions. My father was in the hospital. It was the first time in my life my father had ever been admitted to the hospital. He would be in the hospital the entire week. He was scheduled to come home the day I would return from Detroit.

A week later, as I was flying back to home to Los Angeles—to my father and family—my dad died. My brother and a friend waited for me at the airport; they too were unaware of his passing. They had been instructed to rush me to the hospital to see my dad, hoping to get me there before it was too late. When we arrived and asked for my father’s room, I was told someone would come out to speak with me. Before they could come, I was being rushed home. Still no one told me what was going on. But I sensed something was terribly wrong.

During that ride home, I prayed harder than I have ever prayed about anything in my life. I quickly came to grips with the fact that it was my father’s last day in this world. Yet I had what I thought to be a simple request. “Lord, please let me say goodbye to my father.” With everything that was in me, I pleaded with the Lord to give me the opportunity to give my love to my dad before he was taken away from me. But when we pulled into the driveway, a family friend was there to break the news to me.

This was the most fervent prayer I had ever prayed. And the answer was no. But I write the next sentence without any hesitation, reservation, or qualification. God answers prayer. Today I am several decades removed from my father’s death. And in the intervening years, God has done far more for me than I could ask or think. As I look at that experience in the rearview mirror of life, I thank God that He did not give me what I desperately requested that day. Before that experience, I believed prayer changes things. After that experience, I learned that prayer changes me. My life and relationship with the Lord were never the same since that day the Lord told me no. I am convinced that prayer works, even when it does not work the way you want it to work.

This is what the apostle Paul learned when he was “given a thorn in [the] flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7 NIV). We do not know what this thorn was. But the language conveys the fact that it hurt. Paul responded with prayer. He asked the Lord three times to remove the thorn in the flesh. The Lord refused to do so. He did not give Paul what he asked. But He gave him something better. “My grace is sufficient for you,” said the Lord, “for my power is made perfect in weakness.” This transformed Paul’s perspective. He concluded, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

This can be your experience, too. It happens after prayer! What happens after prayer? I’m glad you asked. “It” is a fill-in-the-blank that you can complete with any issue in your life. Whatever that special thing is that you need the Lord to do in your life, it happens after prayer.

Do you need faith to see beyond your circumstances?
Do you need divine intervention for a difficult situation?
Do you need relief from pain, grief, or sorrow?
Do you need strength to resist a temptation?
Do you need victory over some besetting sin in your life?
Do you need wisdom for a tough decision you have to make? Do you need a door of opportunity opened for you?
Do you need healing or restoration of health?
Do you need reconciliation in some broken relationship?
Do you need grace to be faithful in a hard assignment?
Do you need assurance that God is on your side?

Each one of these happens after prayer! There are a lot of things you can do to fix your situation after you pray. But there is nothing you can do to fix the situation until you pray. Whatever it is you need God to do in your life, it happens after prayer.

A father and his son were riding their bikes together one day. As they rode down the trail, the father eyed a large branch that had fallen in the path ahead. Instead of riding around it, the father decided to use this as an opportunity to teach his son an important lesson. They pulled over, and the father instructed his son to move the branch out of the way.

The boy pushed and pulled, but was unable to move the branch. “I can’t do it,” he said, exhausted. “Sure you can, Son,” replied the father. “Be sure to use all your strength.” The boy tried harder. But he could not move the branch.

Near tears, he said again, “I can’t do it.”

“Did you use all of your strength?” The father asked.

“Yes,” the boy answered.

“No you didn’t,” the father replied. “You didn’t ask me to help you.”

What is the obstacle in your path? What is it in your life that you have tried to move without success? Have you used all of your strength? No you haven’t—if you have not asked God’s help and prayed about it sincerely, diligently, and persistently

It happens after prayer.