Why Pray? God can do it without my help!

The other night as I was praying and starting to fall asleep, I was pondering, “Why do I really need to pray for others?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to just fall asleep and let God do what he intends to do anyway?”  It is that age-old question, “Why wouldn’t God just act according to his good will and his all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful nature?  Why should we have to pray for Him to work?” 

Unexpectedly, the Lord answered me quickly.  He reminded me that in the visible, natural realm we humans are almost always called upon to take action.  When someone needs help with a flat tire, a twisted ankle, or a lost wallet, we naturally come to that person’s aid – and we don’t question why God doesn’t step in on his own. In stepping in to help others, we are blessed with the opportunity to do God’s good work on earth.

If this is true in the traditional physical realm, why would I think that it should be different in the spiritual and quantum physical realm where prayer operates? 

Yes, God obviously could bypass us in meeting the needs of others.  Not only is He more than capable of meeting every need personally, He also has legions of angels at His disposal.  His choice to allow us to be His agents of mercy, compassion, help, and counsel, is His gift to us.  It is in the place of acting in accordance with God’s love, wisdom, and strength that we come to know Him more.  It is through co-laboring with Him that we become increasingly bonded to His heart.   Just as a father invites his young son to wash the car with him, knowing that the son is gaining far more from the experience than simply learning how to wash a car, so our Father invites us to partner with Him in helping others for much higher purposes than simply getting the help to the right place.

Helping others practically and physically (without prayer), though extremely valuable, has a weaker potential to bond us to God’s heart than prayer does.  When we engage in practically helping others, we may easily be tempted to think we are working in our own capacity only.  For instance, I can help my neighbor pack and move boxes without once thinking of the act as “co-laboring with God” (although if I am mindful of being God’s hands, feet, and incarnate love I will probably have a much more fulfilling day – and may naturally include prayer as part of the mission).  When it comes to prayer, however, it is practically impossible to think that I am a solo agent.  Prayer is a humble act of co-laboring in which I can know for sure that God’s power is essential to the equation.  When I  take the time to meditate on the act of prayer as joining my heart to God’s heart, tapping into his unlimited resources to bring positive change (healing, provision, even salvation), then I naturally become increasingly aware of the value of prayer as co-laboring with God.

When praying, the first and most important part is aligning my heart with God’s heart!  Much wiser souls than I have said, “Prayer isn’t about changing God’s mind.”  I am realizing more and more how important it is to remember this when we pray!  I must never put myself in a position of working against the plans and intentions of God, for His wisdom and his ways are vastly superior to mine.  (Isa 55:9). Like me, you have probably seen various models of prayer that seem to be geared toward getting God to change His mind about something, rather than working in accordance with (in agreement with) God’s heart.  When we are tempted to view prayer in this way, we must remember who God truly is – Creator, King, and Lord!  Then we will see that we must purposefully turn from the perspective of changing God’s mind and instead mindfully align our hearts (and our thoughts) with God’s heart from the very beginning.  

Through aligning our hearts with God, we come to know His heart!  And this is the highest call – to know Him!  (Php. 3:8-11).  In prayer, I commune with God.  And it is through prayer – calling upon Him - that I come to know Him like in no other place, for prayer operates in the same dimension in which the Spirit operates.  In prayer, I am saying, “God, show me your heart for this person; show me your will in this situation; show me what you want.”  Then I am taking the next step and saying, “Yes, Lord!  Your will be done in this person, in this way; your kingdom of healing and wisdom and power come, right here in this place just like in heaven.”  Prayer transports me into the place of union with the very heart of God.  It is much like me sitting on the Father’s lap, listening to the cry of his heart, and then saying, “Oh, yes, Father!  Yes!  May it be so!” 

If God acted without involving us, through prayer, we would miss out on the opportunity to co-labor with Him and know him.  Thus, it makes sense that prayer should be integral to the accomplishment of God’s purposes on earth, just as the actions of our hands and our feet are integral to the accomplishment of His purposes on earth.

In prayer, I must trust God’s Word and obey the call to pray.  I am just beginning (barely beginning) to understand how (in a quantum physical sense) prayer operates to take the love and power of God and transform it into healing, life-changing power that intersects the lives of others.  But I do not need to know HOW in order to trust that it works any more than I need to understand the internal workings of an automobile to get in one and drive.  So, I refuse to allow my lack of understanding to keep me from obeying the call to pray.  Faith is all that is required.

I must believe the truth that God has commanded me to pray.  I must believe that God's Word promises me that my prayers are “powerful and effective.”  I must embrace the reality that God planned from the very beginning that my prayers would be an integral part of fulfilling His plans.  My obedience is precious to the Lord, and even more so when I do not fully understand how it all works.  My faith and trust are firmly established in the hope that He who has called me is faithful and true; he cannot lie; and he who began a good work will be faithful to complete it.  The only question then is this:  Will I be faithful to obey the call? 

My Prayer:  Father, forgive me for doubting even for a moment this truth: that prayer is the highest call!  Remind me that the place of prayer is where I come to know you more than in any other place.  Remind me of the glory of participating in bringing your will to pass on the earth. Help me to continue to develop an understanding that prayer is powerful and effective.  Remind me that I don’t pray to change you, and I don’t pray simply to change me, either.  I pray to fulfill my role in the kingdom to bring true change and true healing power.  Just as you spoke everything in the universe into existence by the power of your words, so you have called me to call into existence the answers to prayer that you have placed on our hearts.

I have such a limited understanding, and yet I trust you Lord, that you hear the cry of my heart.  You hear and answer, and while you listen and I listen, we are communing in a way that is truly bonding our hearts together as one.  I will obey the call to pray without ceasing, more and more, each day, because I know that prayer is pure devotion, pure pursuit of You and Your Kingdom, and a powerful and effective force beyond my comprehension!