Why should we pray?

Read Philippians 4:6-7

Why should we pray?

Last week was the first of four weeks in November during which we will be talking about prayer. Each week we will be talking about a different question. Dennis started off this sermon series for us last week by talked about the question, what is prayer? Today we’re going to be talking about the question why should we pray? And the next two weeks we’ll be talking about the questions what should we pray about and how should we pray? Each of these questions came from the questions that you submitted to us several months ago.

Last week Dennis defined prayer as two way communication with God. So that means not only us actively sharing our thoughts and concerns with God, it also means listening for and being open to what God is saying to us. When asked, most of us would say that prayer is important, most of us would say that we pray on a somewhat regular basis. But just about all of us would probably admit that we don’t pray as often as we feel like we should.

Why is that? Why is it that we don’t pray as often as we think we should? What is it that’s holding us back? There are several different stumbling blocks that are common reasons people find prayer difficult.

I think one of our biggest stumbling blocks to prayer is our independence. America was created and founded on the idea that you could make something of yourself, you could be anything you wanted to be, if only you worked hard enough. The American ethos and frontier mentality that we can determine our own future by the strengths of our backs and sheer determination has led us to believe that we don’t need anyone else.

But that independence, that desire to do things on our own, can be a stumbling block when it comes to prayer. If we are convinced that we can do it on our own, that we don’t need anyone’s help, then why bother with prayer? Why bother asking God for help, or trying to discern God’s desire for our life if we have already figured out what we want? Prayer, on some level, requires us to recognize our dependence on God. If we don’t think we need help or need God, we won’t bother with prayer.

Sometimes we have the opposite problem. Instead of feeling confident in our ability to live on our own and that we don’t need God, sometimes we are so aware of our dependence on God that we begin to feel unworthy. We know all the ways that we have fallen short, that we haven’t lived up to our expectations for ourselves, let alone, God’s expectations of us. We begin to think that we have no right to ask God for anything, or maybe that God is mad at us and doesn’t want anything to do with us.

But that is simply not the case. God has immense love for us, even when we mess up sometimes. God is always willing to forgive us if we ask and always wants to be a part of our lives. We don’t have to worry that we’re not good enough or important enough to pray. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus reminds us that God hears the prayers of the humble tax collector. If God hears the prayers of the tax collector, who were widely considered to be the biggest sinners, certainly God will hear our prayers as well.

Another common reason many of us don’t pray as often as we feel like we should is time. We all have so many demands placed on our lives. There’s family, school, work, sports, housecleaning, and homework to name a few. We pack our days full from the minute we wake up in the morning to the minute we go to bed at night. Sometimes prayer seems like just one more thing to do, and we wonder where we might find the time. Other times we try to pray but we find ourselves so exhausted that we fall asleep instead.

But we don’t have to set aside huge chunks of time for prayer. If you don’t pray daily, you can begin by praying a one or two sentence prayer in the morning when you wake up, asking God to guide your decisions during the day and to help you reflect the love of Christ in all that you do during the day. You can also pray while you’re going about your day, it doesn’t have to be one long period of time set aside during the day.

Another reason many of us don’t pray is unanswered prayer. Unanswered prayer is one of the most difficult stumbling blocks to prayer. When we pray, we don’t always get the answer we wanted or even an answer we recognize. Unanswered prayer can be really frustrating and disheartening because we begin to wonder if God can hear us at all. And if so, does our unanswered prayer mean that God doesn’t care?

The problem of unanswered prayer is complicated. There is no one simple answer to explain it. And In part, unanswered prayer points to another stumbling block to prayer; it’s a mystery! Prayer is a mystery. In our culture we have a tendency to break things apart, analyze how the pieces all work together so that we can figure out how the whole thing works. Prayer is one of those things that no matter how much we analyze it, we don’t really know how it works. Unanswered prayers remind us that we don’t know how prayer works. We don’t always know why God seems to answer some prayers and not others. When we can’t understand how something works, we have a tendency to dismiss it as fake or an illusion. The mysterious nature of prayer can be one of the reasons we don’t pray as often as we feel like we should.

These are just a few of the reasons that prevent us from praying as often as we think we should. I’m sure there are others that I have not named. These are just a few of the most common reasons. With all these things that prevent us from praying, why is it that we should pray at all?

One of the biggest reasons that I think prayer is important is because Jesus prayed. When we look at Jesus’ life and ministry we see him praying on a regular basis. He prayed in public, he prayed with his disciples, he prayed alone by himself. Over and over again in the gospel we see Jesus turning to prayer. He prayed when faced with temptation, he prayed out of thanks and gratitude, he prayed to discern the will of God, he prayed to gather strength and energy to continue his ministry, he prayed for the healing of others, and he prayed for the well being of his disciples. Jesus, who was fully human yes, but also fully God, Jesus who is the son of God and God incarnate in our midst, Jesus, even Jesus prayed.

As I think about that, I find myself very convicted and convinced of the importance of prayer. Jesus prayed on a regular basis. And if prayer was important to Jesus, if even Jesus needed to pray, then I know I certainly do. I know that Jesus was much stronger than I am, I know that Jesus was much more able to resist temptation than I am, I know that Jesus was better able to discern the will of God than I am, and if Jesus needed to pray for all those things, then I certainly am in need of prayer! We all are.

But Jesus wasn’t the only one in the bible who prayed. There were lots of people who prayed. In fact, the word pray, prayer, or praying occurs over 542 times in the bible. 542 times! That’s a lot of prayer. And when Jesus talks about prayer he says, “when you pray…” Jesus assumes that the disciples are already praying. When Jesus talks about prayer and spends time teaching the disciples, he doesn’t try to convince them of the necessity of prayer, instead he teaches them how to pray. Not only did Jesus himself pray, but he operated with the assumption that his disciples were also praying.

Another reason to pray is the reason given in our scripture lesson for today. Praying helps give us strength and encouragement, it helps relieve our anxiety and stress about the situations we find ourselves in. I know, with the current state of our economy, many people are worried. With the election of Barrack Obama as our next president, there are many people who are excited, and many people who are disappointed, but everyone is uncertain about the future. With uncertainty comes a certain amount of anxiety. But the more we pray, the more we acknowledge our dependence on God and the more we begin to trust God. As we pray, it helps give us a sense of comfort and peace. We begin to feel a sense of assurance that God is present with us and cares for us. With so much conflict and tension in the world, we could all use more peace and assurance in our lives.

Prayer also helps to nurture our relationship with God. Just like our human relationships need us to put time and energy into them, if we want our relationship with God to grow, we need to put time and energy into it. One of the keys to nurturing a relationship is consistent communication. Prayer is our communication with God. It helps us discern God’s will for our lives. It helps give us strength and encouragement to resist temptation and to act in love. Prayer is a way for us to thank God for the blessing in our lives and prayer helps give us the energy and encouragement to continue in the ministries we are a part of. Prayer helps us stay connected to God and as a result it helps us feel more connected to God. If you’re feeling like God is distant and disconnected, try praying to God. Over time you’ll begin to feel God’s presence more and more in your life.

This certainly is not an exhaustive list of the reasons why we don’t pray or of all the reasons why we should pray. These are just a few of the reasons why we should pray. The last reason I want to leave you with is this: prayer changes things. Like we talked about before, prayer is mysterious, and we don’t know how it works, but we do know that prayer works. There are biblical examples, and modern day examples of how prayer changes circumstances. I’ve personally heard stories of people wondering how they were going to pay their bills, and after praying about it, they received an anonymous gift for the exact amount they needed. I’ve heard people witness to the miraculous healing power of prayer for themselves or other members of their family. Prayer has the power to change things!

Jesus prayed. Jesus assumed his disciples would pray. Prayer helps relieve our anxiety and nurture our relationship with God. Prayer helps us discern God’s will for our lives and prayer has the power to change things. What have you got to lose? Try prayer today.
Amen.