Why We Pray

      I will be honest. I went through last week without daily log of reads. I read and watched, yes, but I couldn't remember which ones I've read on what day. My bad. But one of the books that I've read just last week was William Philip's Why We Pray. It's a rather short read--just 103 pages--but it is ever full. of. beneficial. things. I do think that one of the reasons that I couldn't come up with my usual weekly reading list is because I've been too engaged with this one. I was able to read the book because I've subscribed to Scribd's premium membership (yes, the 1-month Freemium was totally effective on me). I shared my takeaways from the book during our department meeting yesterday, and I thought it's truly worth sharing. So instead of my usual, here are some snippets from the book "Why We Pray" for my reading recommendation. :)

     When we think about how we pray, there are two things that the heart is tempted to feel: depression and despair, or pride and self-righteousness. We feel depressed, because we know we haven't attained to the standard set before us when it comes to prayer (and definitely when it comes to everything else): Jesus Christ. We are never prayerful enough, never fervent enough, never devoted enough to praying as Christ ever was. Or we feel proud of our achievements, as if our fervency in prayer is caused by some self-made effort and not a work of grace in us.

      But if we think about why we pray, why there is prayer in the first place—we would be driven to one thought: the thought of who God is and who we are before God. This question, and hence the title, is the whole premise of Philip. When he titled the book "Why We Pray," he really meant to answer that question. It didn't tell its readers how they should pray; there was no mention of when we should have our quiet time and devotions, how often we should pray, etc. (He did mention that Christ would always rise early in the morning to pray, and that we are to look to Him and imitate Him. He wasn't prescribing anything, though.) Instead, Philip recognized that the root of dull and dry--or of empty and arrogant--prayers is not because we don't know how to pray, but because we've lost sight of the reasons as to why we pray. The book delves into four answers to this question: 

1. We pray because God is a speaking God;

2. We pray because we are sons of God;

3. We pray because God is a sovereign God; and

4. We pray because we have the Spirit of God.

We pray because God is a speaking God

      Since the beginning, God has always been a communicating God. He said, “let there be light; let there be creatures.” And since we’re created in the image God, we are made to communicate—not just with fellow men, but with God Himself. Us talking to God is destroyed by the fall, but when God redeemed us in Christ, we could again talk to God. How do we talk to God? By praying.

We pray because we are sons of God

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Matthew 6:17

      Unlike the unsaved, we don’t need to heap up praises and wordy phrases just to be heard by God. This privilege is only because to us are given the rights by adoption to be called sons--heirs--of God. We are His children. He can’t not hear us. And so this is one strong reason why we pray. We pray because we come to the throne not of an angry Judge we need to appease, but of a gracious and loving heavenly Father. As Philip puts it,

We can pray, and God will hear us--not on the basis of our performance but on the basis of our privilege as sons adopted into the family of God. Therefore, being confident in prayer is not presumption; it is faith.

      Many Christians are so quick to forget their identity as adopted children when Satan's fiery darts attack them, or when Giant Despair manages to lock them up in Doubting Castle. But we are to never forget. We pray because we draw near to our loving Father. Oh, what comfort! "We who know that we are sons through our Lord Jesus Christ can come confidently. We can come intimately. We can come always to our loving heavenly Father because that's what he is to us, through Jesus, forever."

      May we go to our Father in prayer, and go to Him often.

We pray because God is a sovereign God

      As what the author points out in his book, a lot of Christians go by the slogan, "Prayer changes things." But no prayer could ever change what God has foreordained. He is sovereign. He it is who sits in heaven and rules His entire creation. Therefore prayer is not a wrestle of sorts against God or any situation we are in. Instead, prayer is thinking God's thoughts after Him. "And that's what our prayers are. We follow after him, walking along with him, learning about his business and having a share in it." We pray because we want to be part of God's work and business in this world--salvation of sinners and His glory. 

     And thank God for that! Thank God that it is not up to us or to our prayers to make God act. He always has been working, and will continue to work. But He has given us the privilege of prayer so that we can be part of the work He has been doing. Therefore, real prayers has God's goals in view. Not ours. Not our own agenda. Not your bucket list that you want to achieve, or the list of things you want to acquire in this life, turning God into a Christian-version genie.

     Prayer is focusing on God and His work. "That means we have to ask ourselves practical questions where our prayer focus is. Whose thoughts are we thinking when we pray? ... It's not so much what we pray for, whether it's large of small things, but what motivates our prayer that really matters." May we ever truly pray with Jesus' disciples when they were taught to pray, "Hallowed by Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done."

We pray because we have the Spirit of God

        Paul said the Spirit Himself intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And this is another reason why we pray. "Through the Holy Spirit we are enabled to pray according to God's will, in line with his good and perfect and acceptable will." As John Calvin puts it,

Prayer is the chief exercise of our faith. And if that is so, if prayer really is the call of hearts united to Jesus by His Holy Spirit, then prayer made through the Holy Spirit in Jesus's name is praying Jesus's prayers after him, just as we think his thoughts after him. That is why we can be certain that such prayer will always be answered.

        Why do we pray? Because it helps us to see and know deeper who God is, what He has done for us, and who we are before Him. Such wonderful truth! 

        I hope this encourages us all the more to pray to our loving Father.