A Commonly Asked Question

Q. Why should I pray if God already knows what I’m going to say before I say it?

A. Imagine this: It’s your birthday party. You’ve invited people you love to attend. It’s a guarantee that somebody’s going to come up to you and say “Happy Birthday!”, right? Do you put your hand up and stop the person before they say it? Do you say, “No need to say anything. I already know what you’re going to say.”

Well, do you?

No, you don’t. And the reason for this is because you like to hear it, don’t you? You like it when people take time to talk to you – to tell you things.

This is how it is with God. Yes, He knows what we’re going to ask before we say it. But He, the creator of the universe, loves it when we come before Him and talk to Him.

Another way to think of it is this: When I was a kid, my brother and I loved to dump out all of our legos into a great big pile. My mom, on the other hand, wasn’t always so thrilled. Every time we came to ask her if we could dump out all the legos, she knew what we were going to ask before we asked. But she still wanted us to ask her. Sometimes the answer was yes, and other times it was no. But every time we came to her and asked.

When you regularly talk to someone, don’t you get to know them better? Don’t you begin to form a stronger and more personal relationship with them? When you talk to God on a regular basis, you’ll begin to form a strong, personal relationship with Him. Praying is your way to communicate with God, whether you’re mad, happy, thankful, depressed, anxious, excited, etc. Whatever your emotions may be, you can talk to God. He is bigger than any problem.

God wants us to trust Him enough to come to Him and tell Him what’s going on in our life. He wants us to ask Him for things, and thank Him for what He’s already done. Can’t we give the Creator of the entire universe some of our time each day, to simply talk to Him and tell Him what’s going on? To ask Him for what we need, and to thank Him for all of His blessings?

Philippians 4:6 “Do not by anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.”

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”