10 Reasons We Should Pray (Part 2 of 4)

Ok, y’all ! On Saturday I started a post about prayer, but because it was long, I said I would divide it into two posts. But there is SO MUCH to talk about in regard to prayer! So I am making it into 4 posts instead. The first part was posted on Saturday June 11. Today is part 2, and there will be 2 more after this one. 

Prayer is a spiritual discipline that is spoken of MULTIPLE places in Scripture. We know we should pray, but do we know the myriads of reasons WHY we should pray?

Confession time. You know how we all have “pet” sins? Those things that are just the areas where we struggle? Mine is a rebellious spirit. I have always had trouble following rules if the instructions or rules don’t make sense to me. I also struggle with following authority if the person in authority seems, well, …not very intelligent or not very caring. In other words, I really like to know that there is an intelligent reason for doing things!

Now God definitely tops the charts in the intelligence and caring categories, so when He says I should do something, my rebellious spirit doesn’t have to question it. I don’t have to know His reasons, I just know I should obey because He is God. But He often tells us why anyway! The Bible tells us in so many places some of the reasons why we should pray. So let’s check those out!

1. We pray because God listens.                

I was astounded by how many verses mention the fact that God listens to us. Think about that! The creator of all of the universe listens to us when we talk to Him. He cares about what we have to say. There were too many verses to list, but here are a few of my favorites. 

Isaiah 65:24- “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.”

Psalm 116:1,2- “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.” 

Psalm 17:6- “I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.” 

2. We pray because our prayers are effective and cause God to act. 

Our prayers are like flipping on a light switch to release not electrical power, but the very power that created the electricity! 

2 Chronicles 7:14- “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

James 5:16- “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

Matthew 7:11- “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?”

3. We pray to be clean before God.

Confession is the first step in repentance. What is confession? To admit our guilt to God and agree with Him about our sin. We use prayer to acknowledge our sin to God and to ask for His forgiveness. 

I John 1:9- “For if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Psalm 51:1,2- “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”  

Psalm 32:5- “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” 

4. We pray because our prayers please God.

Oh, how I want to please God! God is pleased because He loves to spend intimate time with us. But He is also pleased because He knows that prayer brings some wonderful things into our spiritual life. And I will talk about some of those in the next post!

Proverbs 15:8-“The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.” 

Psalm 141:2- “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”

2 Corinthians 5:9- “For we make it our goal to please Him…” 

I hope these verses encourage you in your prayers. In the next post we talk about 4 more reasons to pray!