WHY SHOULD WE PRAY?                                 ‘ Matthew 21:20-22

 ‘If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.’ Matthew 21:22 NCV

In Matthew 6:8 we read: ‘your Father knows what you need before you ask him’ (NIV). So if God already loves us and knows what we need, why do we have to pray and ask Him for things? It’s because prayer is so much more than just getting what we need. It’s about talking to God and listening to Him. It’s about getting His perspective and wisdom. It’s about building a relationship with Him. Jesus said, ‘Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well’ (Matthew 6:33 NCV). When our prayers are based on our relationship with God, our needs are met. When we love God and spend time with Him, His Word says: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NLT). God has a level of blessing in mind for us that we haven’t yet seen or imagined, but when we pray, He reveals things to us by His Spirit. When that happens, our faith grows and we’re able to receive what God wants us to have. We need to develop a lifestyle of prayer – praying all the time, everywhere we go, in the middle of our daily routine. 1 Peter 5:7 says: ‘Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you’ (NCV). God cares about every detail of our lives, so when we get anxious about something, we should talk to Him about it. Nothing is too small for Him to care about, and nothing is too big for Him to handle.

NOTE: If you don’t already have one, start a prayer journal. Write down your prayer requests, prayer points, and anything that God says to you during your prayer times.

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When a prayer is answered, make a note of when and how it happened.