<https://youtu.be/fIntzH8Ux3o> He says we pray because, in praying, we agree with what God already wants to do in our lives. It's like wanting to give something to your children. However, you wait until they want it before you give it. It’s like a teacher telling their class they have candy and then asking who wants some. Those who raise their hands get some. Prayer is raising our hands and saying, “I want some.” --- # Why Pray if God Knows All? > [!summary] The short answer > We don't pray to inform God. We pray because God invites us into a relationship with Him, because He has chosen to work through our prayers, and because prayer changes us. God's perfect knowledge doesn't make prayer pointless. It makes prayer safe. --- ## The Question The Bible is clear that God knows everything. > [!quote] Psalm 139:4 (ESV) > Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. God knows our needs, our thoughts, and the future (Psalm 147:5; Isaiah 46:9-10; Hebrews 4:13). So a fair question follows: if God already knows what I need, and already knows what He's going to do, why should I pray at all? ### Jesus answered this directly Interestingly, Jesus raised the same point and drew the opposite conclusion: > [!quote] Matthew 6:8 (ESV) > Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. In the very next verse, He says, "Pray then like this," and teaches the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). Jesus didn't see God's knowledge as a reason **not** to pray. He saw it as the reason we can pray without anxiety, without long speeches, and without trying to manipulate God. --- ## Six Reasons We Pray ### 1. Prayer is relationship, not information If prayer were only about giving God information, it would be pointless. But prayer is about **communion** with God. Think of a child who runs to tell their parent about their day. The parent may already know what happened, but they still want to hear it, because they love the child and want the relationship. God calls us His children (Romans 8:15-16) and invites us to come to Him like that. - God desires fellowship with us (Revelation 3:20; 1 John 1:3). - Jesus called His disciples friends, not servants (John 15:15). - We're invited to approach God's throne with confidence (Hebrews 4:16). ### 2. God works through our prayers God doesn't just decide **what** will happen. He also decides **how** it will happen. Prayer is one of the means He has chosen to accomplish His purposes. > [!quote] James 4:2 (ESV) > You do not have, because you do not ask. - "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" (James 5:16, ESV). James points to Elijah, whose prayers for drought and rain were answered (James 5:17-18; 1 Kings 17-18). - Abraham interceded for Sodom (Genesis 18:22-33), and Moses interceded for Israel (Exodus 32:11-14). - God promised to heal the land when His people humbled themselves and prayed (2 Chronicles 7:14). The seventeenth-century philosopher Blaise Pascal said God established prayer to give His creatures "the dignity of causality." In other words, God lets us share in His work. He doesn't need our prayers, but He chooses to use them. ### 3. Prayer changes us Prayer brings our hearts in line with God's will. - In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed honestly about what He wanted, then surrendered: "not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39, ESV). - Prayer replaces anxiety with peace: "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7, ESV). - Praying "your will be done" (Matthew 6:10) teaches us to want what God wants. ### 4. Prayer expresses dependence Every prayer is a confession that we need God. Prayerlessness quietly says, "I can handle this myself." Prayer says, "Apart from you I can do nothing" (John 15:5). It keeps us humble, and when God answers, it makes clear that He deserves the credit (John 14:13; Psalm 50:15). ### 5. God commands it Even if we didn't fully understand why, God tells us to pray. - "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). - Jesus told a parable so His disciples would "always pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1, ESV). - "Continue steadfastly in prayer" (Colossians 4:2). ### 6. Jesus prayed This may be the strongest answer of all. Jesus knew the Father perfectly, and He prayed constantly. - He rose early to pray (Mark 1:35). - He prayed all night before choosing the twelve (Luke 6:12). - He prayed for His followers, including us (John 17:20). - He prayed "with loud cries and tears" (Hebrews 5:7). - He still intercedes for us now (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). If the Son of God, who knew the Father's will better than anyone, made prayer central to His life, then prayer is clearly not pointless. --- ## Doesn't God's Plan Make Prayer Unnecessary? This is the deeper philosophical form of the question: if God already knows the future, aren't outcomes already settled? The answer is that **God's knowledge includes our prayers.** God doesn't know the future apart from our prayers. He knows the future **with** our prayers in it. When He planned how He would act, He planned to act in answer to the prayers He knew His people would pray. Consider an analogy: a farmer knows that if he plants seeds, he'll get a harvest. Knowing that doesn't make planting pointless. It's the reason he plants. In the same way, God has tied many of His blessings to the prayers of His people. ### What about passages where God "changes His mind"? Some passages describe God relenting after people pray or repent (Exodus 32:14; Jonah 3:10). Other passages say God does not change His mind like a human does (Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6). Most Christians understand the first group as describing God's real responses from a human point of view. God's character and purposes never change, but His actions toward us respond to our prayers and repentance. He is not a distant machine. He's a personal God who truly engages with His people. --- ## What About Unanswered Prayer? God always hears the prayers of His children, but He doesn't always answer the way we hope. - **Sometimes the answer is no.** Paul asked three times for his "thorn in the flesh" to be removed. God said no, and gave him grace instead (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). - **Sometimes the answer is wait.** God's timing is different from ours (2 Peter 3:8-9). - **Sometimes our motives need to change** (James 4:3). - **We pray according to His will,** trusting that His will is good (1 John 5:14-15; Romans 8:28). Because God knows everything, we can trust Him when His answer isn't what we asked for. A God who knew less than we do would be dangerous to pray to. A God who knows all and loves perfectly is safe. --- ## Other Views Christians agree that we should pray, but they explain how prayer relates to God's knowledge in different ways: - **Reformed (Calvinist) view:** God sovereignly ordains both the ends and the means. Our prayers are real causes that God has ordained to bring about His purposes. - **Arminian view:** God foreknows the free choices of His people, including their prayers, and responds to them in His plan. - **Molinist view:** God knows not only what will happen, but what free creatures **would** do in any situation, and He arranges history with those prayers in view. Philosopher William Lane Craig is a prominent defender of this view. - **Open theism:** Some argue that God does not know future free choices in full, so prayer can genuinely change what God decides. Most evangelical theologians reject this view because Scripture presents God as knowing the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:9-10; Psalm 139:16). Each of the first three views affirms both God's complete knowledge and the real value of prayer. --- ## What This Means for Us You don't have to find the perfect words, because your Father already knows what you need. You don't have to manipulate God, because He already loves you. You don't have to carry your burdens alone, because He invites you to bring them to Him. > [!quote] 1 Peter 5:7 (ESV) > ...casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. So pray. Not because God needs information, but because He wants you.