BULLETIN ARTICLE
28 April 2019
There are many methods to prayer. Some of us choose to pray at specific times of the day, some pray as and when we want to. Some choose to pray from what is at the top of our heads and some follow guided structures like the ACTS model (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication). None of these methods are wrong for, after all, prayer is an intimate conversation we have with God. We have been commanded in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 to “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
However, there must have been times when we may wonder why we pray. Questions like “why pray, when God already knows what is going to happen” and “why should we pray if God already has our best interests at heart” may run through our minds. We wonder – how does my prayer factor into what God wills?
Perhaps, these questions come from a point of view which may approach prayer in the wrong manner. Often, we need to remember that prayer is not just about getting what we want. Although we do submit our requests to God, the true value is found in how our prayer symbolises our submission to God’s will and his good plan for us. Prayer helps us show our trust in God’s will and acknowledge that he is sovereign over all. Above all, prayer is a very powerful way for us to connect to God and strengthen our relationship with him.
Why do we pray for others? Intercession (praying for others) is certainly a very important matter – not because more people “signing a petition” will get a higher likelihood of God listening to our needs. Prayer is not a numbers game. God wants us to do it. We are to love God and others and so we pray for others. We are given this assurance in 1 John 5:14: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”
We pray for others for the very same reason we pray for ourselves – to bring us and them closer to God as we unite together as God’s family. It brings us closer to the needs of our friends and family as we learn more about them through their requests and pray for their needs. The prayers for others found in the Bible also exemplify that such prayers help to bring them closer to God through prayer for God’s blessings for them. When praying for others, Jesus prayed for faith (Luke 22:32), unity (John 17:11), sanctification (John 17:17) and against temptation (Luke 22:40). The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 5:9-15 is a good example of praying for others – Jesus prayed for blessings to be upon “us” and not just “me”.
Given 1 John 5:14, we know that if we ask for “anything according to his will”, God will hear us and grant us our God centred request (John 16:24). Such requests for the salvation of others and the bringing of them into God’s family are aligned with God’s desire that all sinners be saved. As in 1 Timothy 2:4, God desires “all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Let us then not cease in praying for others as we have been commanded to do – “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people” (1 Timothy 2:1). When we pray for others, we seek not for earthly gain but for the heavenly gain for ourselves and “for all people”.
