Why We Pray

Do you sometimes feel frustrated by prayer? As you know, at the Prayer League we pray a lot. We take the work of praying for Unreached People Groups very seriously. We study these groups to find out who they are. We want to know what they are like and what their culture is like so that our prayers are intelligible; we think that will help our prayers to be more specific and maybe more effective. Most of you, of course, already know we pray this way because you have been praying with us for a long time. But let me ask you, when praying with us, have you ever had doubts that your prayers have been worthwhile?

When you are praying for a people group on the other side of the world, and with whom you have no direct personal contact, it can be hard to stay motivated and inspired. You may not see the answers to your prayers for many years, if at all. Praying out of duty can be unrewarding when positive feedback is scarce. There is also the question, given God’s sovereignty, whether God even needs our prayers. We are told his plan is eternal, immutable, perfect, and nothing can be added to it or taken from it. So, why do we expect God to want our prayers – much less expect him to listen to them! Do you not, sometimes, get the idea that praying like this is a futile exercise?

I have been reading in Hallesby’s classic book Prayer recently and came across some of his comments on intercessory prayer that I did not recall from previous readings. Hallesby asks the question: “Are our intercessory prayers necessary?” Hallesby surprised me by answering yes, stating that God has voluntarily bound himself to man in his governance of the world. God’s plan includes man and through prayer man is not simply a bystander. So, rather than thinking of God’s plan as a concrete path laid out into the future on which we are simply moving along, think of it as a flower blossoming into the future. God knows how it will turn out because he is in control, but it is colored by the prayers of believers who are praying in the power of the Spirit, according to the will of God, in the name of Jesus.

Your intercessory prayers are not only wanted and necessary, they are vital.