The Power
of Prayer
Why Pray?
A lot of good things will happen to you
even if you don’t pray, and a lot of bad things will happen to
you even if you do pray. We expect God to send blessings to His
friends, but He also showers blessings on His enemies, because
they are His enemies and He would like for them to become
His friends. He loves His enemies as well as His friends. That’s
the good news of the gospel.
Are we only friends with God because of
what we hope to get out of Him? If that is our only reason for
serving God — to try to gain His blessings for ourselves — then
are we really His friends?
The primary purpose of prayer is
communication with God. It is not to get answers. [“Answers”
refers to blessings. We always receive a response, but may not
get the answer we are after.] While it is true that our primary
purpose is not to get “things” from God, it is also true that we
have been invited to ask Him to meet our needs, and even our
wants.
So don’t forget: it is always right to
ask! We have been invited to ask. God wants us to ask. We may
not receive what we expect, but we are always welcome to ask.
...But the most important reason why we pray is to enter into
the deepest fellowship and communion with Him, as He shares His
thoughts with us and pours out His heart to us, the way He longs
to do.
Source: Morris L. Venden, The
Answer is Prayer.
Pacific Press Publishing Association, Boise, Idaho, 1988.
190 pp.