Why Pray?

I suppose there are several reasons we could give as to why we need not pray.  For one, we could assume that God already knows what’s best, and therefore requires no human urging to encourage Him to do what He should already be-about-doing to save humanity and the world from its ills.

Another reason that can be given as to why we need not pray is that we humans tend to be frivolous and selfish in our prayers, praying for things of which God has little concern.  If I am a quarterback for my high school football team, is God really concerned about my plea to win the game—even if I say it is for His honor?  By the same token, will God answer a young woman’s plea for clear skies and no rain on a particular Saturday in June, so that her outdoor wedding plans can go off without a hitch?

Is prayer then useless and empty, all in vain?

There is the argument that prayer is communion with God.  It is not about the asking for and the getting of—it is about relating to and connecting with.  And that is a good start in understanding what prayer is.  But, does that mean that the ideal prayer never asks God for a thing—unless of course it has to do with one’s relationship with God, “O God, I pray to have more love for you”?  That is, is it a waste of time to pray that one gets the job that one has just interviewed for and so desperately needs and wants, or is that going too far with God in the exercise of our prayerful communal relationship with Him?

We work.  We organize, plan, and do—to make things happen.  For example, we want shelter so we build.  We want clothing so we weave.  We want food so we plant crops.  Simple truth: We do not, and we cannot afford to just sit-around waiting for things to fall into our laps without applying ourselves to the matter, to meet a need.

But neither can we do these things without the help and participation of others, requesting and inviting their help and participation—be it the help of friends, family, or neighbors and beyond.  That is, it takes a cooperative family, tribe, village, and society to make things work in the world—everything from the production of food, water, and shelter, to the development of the arts and sciences.

Thus, think of prayer as a form of work, an extension of what we do to get things done.  And, think of God as a key player/participant/helper in aiding us to accomplish the work we are doing to obtain the goal(s) that we’re aiming for.  Furthermore, let us assume that we are in fact lining up our goals and desires with God’s higher will and purposes.  Prayer now becomes a dynamic interplay between humans and their Creator, wherein God and humans are engaged in creative accomplishment—the doing, the making, the meeting of needs and wants and dreams and desires, here on earth and beyond.

So, why pray?

We pray to relate, to connect and to commune with God.  It is an act of spiritual intimacy, an expression of devotion and love for and from God.

We pray in order to become co-creators with God.  We, the human race, participate in the writing of our story by writing-in whole paragraphs, as it were, within the chapters of God’s book of life on earth, as it unfolds in this world.  That is, prayer is an act of engagement with God in causality.  In an act of causality, we pray, “O Lord, give us our daily bread,” then we plow the ground as co-creators with God, to put food on the table.

We humans change or modify nature all the time.  Why should it be so strange to think that God could or would do the same, only at a higher level?  Still, it goes without saying that God must use His discretionary power in response to our prayers.  As it is, God has given us extraordinary power over nature, in our capacity to work, which has had both very good and very bad results.  We have learned how to harness nuclear power, for example, for both good and ill.  So, imagine the sad state we’d be in if God literally “granted” every request we’ve ever prayed for.  Let us pray, but let us also be wise and mindful of what we’re really asking of God when we do pray.

(Note: I am indebted to C. S. Lewis’s thoughts for the core idea of the efficacy of prayer here: See God in the Dock, the chapter called “Work and Prayer”.)