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Written by Administrator Friday, 30 April 2010 22:38

“Why do we pray?”  That’s a question that Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne answer in their book, Prayer and the Voice of God.  Consider this analogy:

“You park your car out the front of a large residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington D.C. There are armed guards on the gate but you walk straight past them without pausing.  You then stroll towards the front door, nodding and smiling at the staff at all the security check points you pass on the way.  In the entrance foyer, you are greeted personally and ushered through more security barriers into the interior of the house.  Secret Service agents in black suits open doors for you as you wander down the various corridors, until you finally arrive at the room you’re looking for.  You open the door and walk into an oval-shaped office.  You smile at the man sitting behind the large desk and say, ‘Morning, Dad.  I was just passing by and was wondering whether you could do me a favour.’

“Imagine having that sort of access to the President of the United States of America.  Imagine being able to pop in whenever it suited you to see the most powerful man in the world – to chat to him as a child to a father and know that he will not just be available to see you, but be happy to listen to anything you say and willing to help you out in any way he can.

“God is the king of kings and the president of presidents.  He is the supreme creator and ruler of the whole world.  He made the President of the United States from dust.  The White House is like a piece on his Monopoly board.  His security detail is made up of angels with flaming swords.

“And yet this mighty, all-powerful God, who by rights should destroy us as his enemies, has instead reached out to us in love, wiped away our sins and adopted us as his own children.  He has become our Father, and he allows us to approach him and pour out our requests to him at any time, promising that he will hear us and give us every good gift.

“This is the first, and in a sense the only, necessary reason for prayer.  We pray because of the extraordinary fact that we can …” (pp. 38-39).

Well said!  Jensen and Payne give three additional reasons as to why we pray:  because we must, because we are commanded to, and because of God’s promise.  Prayer is a privilege linked with rewards and blessings.

This Thursday is not only our own special prayer night; it is also the National Day of Prayer.  Please join us from noon to 1:00 pm and/or at 7:00 PM in the Mizpah Room.  Our nation needs our prayers, our community needs our prayers, and our God has called us to pray.  “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint.  Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge ...” (Psalm 61:1-3).