Recently I wrote about God promising His presence with us always, therefore a prayer we never need to lift is, "Lord be with me" (January 15). So, how do I respond to today's text. Twice in Matthew 6 we are told both that God sees everything, and that He knows all our needs. If this is true, why do we spend so much time on our knees telling the Lord things that have happened and presenting our requests before Him?
We need to understand what prayer is and what prayer is not. If prayer to us is nothing more than an exercise or ritual with a list of desires we want met, we have sadly misunderstood the purpose of prayer. Prayer is not giving God information that He doesn't already know. Prayer is the amazing that welcomes us to enjoy communion with a personal God. Prayer is primarily about glorifying God, and one way to do that is to voice our trust in Him as we present ourselves and our needs before Him. It's incredible that we get to articulate our thoughts, feelings, emotions and physical needs to the God of the universe at His very invitation.
I'm so thankful that God knows my needs before I ask. I don't have to pray long, use the correct words or get all the details right...He knows. Like an earthly father very aware of his child's need for help, often our heavenly Father watches and waits for us to present our requests to Him. As we acknowledge our inadequacies, we honour the Lord by expressing our reliance on Him. Prayer reminds us that in the end, our entire lives are dependent on Him. It's acknowledging not my will, but Thine be done.
I will be the first to say that I don't understand the connection between divine sovereignty and our responsibility to pray, but I do know from experience that my relationship with the Lord deepens and grows through prayer. A persistent faith and fervent prayer touch the heart of God. I pray because God commands me to in His word and I know He listens and will graciously answer in His time.
In closing I want to share a passage from Isaiah 62:6-7 that I found while searching for insight to the "why pray" question. The prophet recorded this: "O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray day and night, continually. Take no rest, all you who pray to the LORD. Give the LORD no rest until He completes His work, until He makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth." God is saying, pray, pray and keep praying. You haven't prayed too long. The request is not too big or too small. He is not bothered by hearing you ask again. If the request is coming from a pure heart and surrendered to His will, don't be discouraged and give up. Give Him no rest. We have unrestricted access before His throne of grace and He wants to hear from us. Don't keep Him waiting.
"...the greatest obstacle to prayer is the simple matter of beginning..." Emilie Griffin
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