What Is Prayer?
One of the ways God allows his creation to stay involved with him is through prayer. Prayer, which is personal communication from us to God, not only helps us know about God but also helps us truly know God. Through prayer we can communicate our requests to God, confess our sins to God, and give adoration, praise, and thanksgiving to God.
The Reason for Prayer
God does not want us to pray so that he can find out what we need, for Jesus said, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt. 6:8). Instead, God wants us to pray so that our dependence on him can increase. When we come to him in prayer about something, we express a trust in him, a trust that he will hear and answer our prayers. That is why Jesus compares our prayers to a child asking his father for a fish or an egg (Luke 11:9–12). As a child trusts and expects his father to provide for him, so we ought to expect, in faith, that God will provide for us. That is why Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” (Matt. 21:22).
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