Why Pray, pt. 1

Why Pray, pt. 1 January 20, 2015

Martin Luther suggested: “As it is thebusiness of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is thebusiness of Christians to pray.” He’s certainly right, judging from texts like:“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thes 5:17) and “Be constant in prayer” (Rom 12:12).Many Christians find, however, that diligent prayer is one of the mostdifficult and least consistent disciplines in their life. I know I often do! Soin an effort to help us stay (or become!) motivated in this area, I’vebrainstormed ten quick reasons we should pray:

  1. Godenjoys hearing His people pray. “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abominationto the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight” (Pro 15:8). Want tobring a song to the heart of God? Set yourself to praying.
  2. God commands it.To fail to pray is to disobey God, which is never good for our joy or Hisglory. Deliberate disobedience of the Sovereign of the universe—even thepassive disobedience of neglect—is foolish and dangerous.
  3. Jesus authorizedus to petition Him in His own holy name. “If you ask me anything in my name, Iwill do it” (Jn 14:14). The King’s Son has granted us access to heaven’smagnificent treasure chamber, plus the astonishing right to plunder it inHis own name. This is a privilege and an opportunity we would be mostfoolish to neglect!
  4. God is glorifiedby answering our prayers. “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliveryou, and you shall glorify me” (Ps 50:15). I love the logic of this verse! Whenwe call upon the Lord and He delivers, we get the help we need and He gets theglory He deserves. An ingenious arrangement!
  5. The needs in ourlives, in our church, in our nation, and in our world demand it. Huge crisesand desperate times are upon us on nearly every front. Our first reaction isoften to look to bailout plans, military might, or personal savvy to protectus; but in reality, only supernatural forces are adequate to stem this tide.

(tobe continued…)