The Rationale For Prayer
Fellow brethren of the PAC, I sincerely crave your indulgence, and perhaps forgiveness in advance, for the subject of my exhortation this afternoon. I have heard of your reputation as a praying group, though I have not yet had the opportunity to attend any of your prayer sessions.
A few months ago, at one of our monthly meetings held in the home of our respected member, Brother Ònàwáìyé, the question was raised: Why do we pray when Scripture tells us (and as Christians, we believe) that the Father knows our needs and has already made provision for them?
My address this afternoon discusses prayer. What is prayer? Is it necessary? God has given us a Bible full of answers to life’s questions. The focus of this exhortation is “why pray?” I am not speaking of “why” in the sense of wanting or needing this or that. Obviously, we ask because we have wants and needs.
Rather, I am speaking of “why” in the context of God’s sovereignty. Related to that, I have heard various questions asked about prayer:
- Do my prayers really matter?
- Isn’t God going to do what He wants anyway?
- Can my prayers change things?
- Does God need me to pray, or does He just want me to pray?
- Can God’s will on earth be frustrated or left unaccomplished if I don’t pray?
Now, please don’t brand me a heretic for raising these questions. It is all in an attempt to find answers to difficult questions. Does a sovereign, all-powerful God need our involvement or not? In essence, is prayer truly necessary?
I submit that prayer is indeed necessary.
The answer to why prayer is necessary lies in God’s original plan when He created Adam. To understand prayer, we need to recognize what Jesus came to do. Our prayers express God’s purpose as Christ revealed it. And God’s purpose is repossession.
What then is God’s original plan? When He created Adam, He gave Adam and Eve, and their descendants, dominion over the entire Earth and all creation (Genesis 1:26-28, Psalm 8:3-5). Psalm 8:6 implies that the remit of Adam and his descendants was to be God’s manager here on Earth—a steward or governor. Genesis 1:26-27 explicitly states this and aligns it with being made in God’s image and likeness.
Indeed, so complete and final was Adam’s authority over the Earth that it would appear that Adam, not just God, had the ability to give it away. Consider the words of Satan in Luke 4:6-7: “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to..”. It would certainly seem that the part of the domain being handled to him was true and Jesus knew it. Jesus even called Satan “… the ruler of this world” three times in the Gospel (John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11).
God’s decision to work through human beings is so complete and final that it even required the incarnation—God becoming part of the human race—to regain what Adam had relinquished. This decisively proves God’s commitment to partnering with humanity. Therefore, humans are undeniably God’s chosen instruments for exercising authority and effecting change on Earth.
This, I believe, is the core reason for prayer’s necessity.
From the moment of creation, God chose to work through humans, not independently of them. He has always done so and always will, even at the cost of becoming one of us. While God is sovereign and omnipotent, Scripture reveals that He willingly limited Himself in earthly affairs, choosing to operate through human agency. Could this explain the state of the world—not because God wills it, but because He has entrusted His work to fallible human hands? This truth is woven throughout Scripture.
God needs:
- Faithful men and women
- A responsive people to work through
- Prophets and judges
- The Messiah
- Human hands to heal, voices to speak, and feet to go
He needs us to ask for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done (Matthew 6:10). Surely He wouldn’t want us to waste time requesting something inevitable. He instructs us to ask for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11), even though He knows our needs before we voice them. He tells us to ask for laborers to be sent into the harvest (Matthew 9:38), though the Lord of the harvest desires this even more than we do. Paul urges, “Pray for us that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified” (2 Thessalonians 3:1). Wasn’t this God’s plan all along?
These things represent God’s will. Why then are we to ask for what He already desires? The answer is that our requests somehow release Him to act, demonstrating His commitment to working through humanity, a decision made at creation.
Several biblical passages illustrate this principle. In 1 Kings 18, we see God using Elijah’s prayer to accomplish His will. James 5:17-18 reveals that Elijah not only brought rain but had previously withheld it. In 1 Kings 18:1, after three years of drought, God tells Elijah, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth.” After a series of events, Elijah prays seven times, and finally, rain comes. Scripture makes it clear that sending rain was God’s idea, God’s will, and God’s invitation. Did Elijah’s prayers actually cause the rain, or was it coincidental? James 5:16 confirms the power of prayer: “…The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” In this instance, prayer both withheld and brought rain. The reason Elijah needed to pray is simply that God has chosen to work through people.
Even when God initiates and desires something, He still invites our participation through prayer. His giving is inextricably linked to our asking.
Daniel provides another example. While reading Jeremiah, Daniel realized the prophesied 70-year captivity was ending. He sensed God desired his involvement, stating, “So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” (Daniel 9:3).
The Angel Gabriel informs Daniel, “…your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words…” (Daniel 10:12). This raises the question: how many of God’s promises remain unfulfilled because He awaits human partnership? Daniel recognized that intercession was crucial to fulfilling the prophecy.
God had made the prophecy through Jeremiah. Yet, when the time for fulfillment arrived, He didn’t act unilaterally. He sought a human intercessor. As always, God’s heavenly decree is enacted on Earth through human intercession and faith.
Ezekiel 22:30-31 powerfully reinforces this idea. Although God is entirely independent of creation (Acts 17:24-25) and possesses all resources (Job 41:11, Psalm 50:11-12), He still desires our prayers.
The passage essentially conveys: “While My justice demanded judgment, My love desired forgiveness. If only I had found someone to intercede, I could have shown mercy. But since no one pleaded, I had to destroy them.”
Finally, understanding prayer requires grasping Jesus’ mission: to repossess the authority Adam surrendered. At Calvary, Jesus’ sacrifice redeemed God’s rightful ownership.
Though Satan lost authority to Jesus, he remains a formidable force. To experience the fullness of Christ’s victory, prayer is essential. No battle fought according to the Captain’s command will be lost.
And what is His command? “Watch and pray!” (Mark 13:33). Pray with all kinds of prayers. Remember, Jesus is now our intercessor (John 16:26).
In conclusion, Scripture consistently affirms the necessity of prayer. It enables God to fulfill His decision to work through humanity and allows us to participate in Christ’s victory over Satan and death.
Thank you.
