"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee…" (Jeremiah 1:5) – since the Almighty being our creator knew us before we were even formed, why do we have to pray to Him submitting lists after lists of our needs & necessities? If God knows what we need, why do we have to bring our request to Him through our prayers? Why do we have to pray? In fact, why did Jesus pray?
Why did the Master of prayers pray? The gospels cite many occasions & incidence wherein Jesus withdrew Himself to mountain sites, secluded places and privacy in order to pray. Incidentally, each one of Jesus’ miracles were preceded by a long & passionate prayer. In fact Jesus taught us to pray. Why? Why did the Son of God have to pray?
The simple and absolute answer is prayer is not listing a petition! But it is an expression of a deeper, intense and passionate relationship with God. It is speaking to God. And when we speak to God, He speaks to us. It is a divine dialogue! Simple as that. Jesus personally spoke to God everytime He prayed.
Prayer is an expression of the commitment and trust we have in God. When we come before God in prayer and give Him full control of a situation, we are acknowledging His sovereignty in that area. As a result, God begins to work on the problem with His mighty power.
Prayer is one of the greatest contributions we can make to advance the Kingdom of Christ – after all, we learned it directly from the Lord Himself isn’t it? More than anyone, Satan understands the power of prayer and I believe he is fighting fiercely to nullify if not to reduce its impact. The story of the disciples at the time of the resurrection is a good example of how capable Satan is of blinding our eyes to important truths. Jesus told His disciples on several occasions that He was going to be killed and would rise again on the third day. Yet, on the third day, where were His disciples? Why were they not waiting at His tomb? They were not even looking for His resurrection. The Pharisees, on the other hand, remembered Jesus talking about His resurrection. This is why they requested a guard be placed at the tomb (Matthew 27:62-64). It appears Satan, the author of deception and distraction, had blinded or at least distracted the disciples to this very important truth, isn’t it? If the disciples, the very men who walked with Jesus, could miss something as important as the resurrection, isn’t it reasonable to believe Satan could blind us to the power of prayer?
A prayer becomes powerful, which in fact is what it is meant to be only when one directly & personally speaks to God without any inhibitions whatsoever. Just like how one speaks to his/her mortal father. It is essential when we come in front of God, we recognize Jesus Christ as our total redemption. Our human abilities played no part in the salvation process. We have to trust God fully. Likewise, when we as Christians approach God, He still wants us to trust Him fully and understand that the solutions to our problems lie beyond our abilities. It is this recognition that releases the power of God.
We, Christians are the most powerful and privileged beings in the universe because, only we willed the power of prayer. Only we are blest with a gospel. And the gospel says to us “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). This simply means that, ”faith comes by directly speaking to Jesus Christ”. If we understand this scripture and the gospel of Christ in spirit & truth, we are the most powerful. And prayer is our most powerful contribution to advance the Kingdom of God. That is what the Lord taught us isn’t it? – “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). And let us pray, i.e. speak to the Almighty through Jesus as He Himself stressed, “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:14). Feel the power of prayers. Amen.
