What is Prayer?

Seventeenth century preacher and writer John Bunyan, once wrote that prayer is “a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised, or according to His Word, for the good of the church, with submission in faith to the will of God.” This is a beautiful summary of what the Bible itself teaches us about prayer. Prayer is meant to foster trust and dependence upon God, produce deeper friendship with and love for God, and involve us in the drama of God’s kingdom-building agenda as his church. Or we could say it more simply like this: (1) prayer is communication with God, (2) an expression of our desires and needs, and, (3) a thankful recognition of our dependence on Him and His purposes for all things.

Why Should We Pray?

We Are Commanded To

The simple and foundational answer to the question, “why should we pray,” is that we are commanded to pray in Scripture. In Colossians 4:2, we are told to devote ourselves to prayer. 1Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to “pray without ceasing.” Jesus, in Luke 18:1, tells his disciples a “parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” 

It’s What God’s People Do

Second, the Bible clearly demonstrates that praying is what God’s people do. The Psalms are certainly more than a “hymn book” but they are not less than a giant book full of prayers and songs about the full range of the human experience in a broken and fallen world awaiting redemption in Christ. In the New Testament, the gospel writers constantly draw attention to the prayer life of Jesus (there are nine prayers of Jesus in Luke alone!). Further, in most of his letters, the Apostle Paul offers model prayers for us (e.g., Col 1:9-14; 2 Thess 1:3-12). A quote often attributed to Martin Luther sums this idea up well: “As is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.”

It Expresses and Builds Trust

Third, prayer requires that we come to grips with reality, that we admit that we need to talk to God because he is the source of life and all truth, goodness, and beauty originates with him (John 5:26; Acts 17:22-31). As we express our trust in him and love for him, we then enjoy friendship with our creator and sustainer (Col 1:16-17). 

God Uses Our Prayers

God uses our prayers as a means to his sovereign ends. Prayer actually accomplishes things in our lives because God has designed the prayers of his people to work in such a way as to allow us as creatures to be involved in what is eternally important to our creator, redeemer, and Lord. 

How Do We Pray?

Naturally, once we know what prayer is and come to understand biblical motivations for why we should pray, we ask, “So, how do I pray?” In Luke 11:1-4 and Matthew 6:5-13, the famous “Lord’s Prayer” passages, Jesus’s disciples ask the same question, so we’re in good company! Here’s a summary of what Jesus teaches us:

• 1. Prayer begins with the proper goal: communion with God, who has authority over us as the self-existent creator and yet is
• 2. Personal as a loving father to his children.
• 3. Prayer is to be expressed with the proper perspective: with God’s glory and purposes as foremost in our hearts and minds.
• 4. Prayer is to be done with the proper attitude: in humility, recognizing our need for forgiveness.
• 5. Prayer requires the proper trust: it is an expression of our dependence upon and trust in God to meet our needs and to protect us from evil.

From Jesus’s example, we learn that we are to pray with reverence, trust, and humility. And God, who is our loving Father, will answer our prayers and give himself abundantly to us.

 1 John Bunyan, Prayer (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1965).