What is the point in prayer if it’s all part of God’s plan? Or freewill if it’s all part of God’s plan?
‘When life’s billow tosses us around
We sometimes wonder why we bother praying’
There have been times we have certain revelations, which we pray about but the reverse of our request in prayer happens, and we seem lost
I remember when I prayed for about a year for my mum, who was ill at the time, to be healed, but she died.
I was in self-denial for a while, but I never for once got angry against God or thought He didn’t exist. I really can’t say how I was helped through it or why praying even more fervently became my solace shortly after
Maybe, it was because one of the last words my mum said to me before her death ‘Never leave God’ with such great faith (These words came from a woman of prayer who practically prayed all her life and is now bedridden due to illness at such young age) must have had a great impact in building my Faith.
The above is to let you know you are not alone in this limited state of understanding God, Life and Prayer.
Back to our question, what is the point in praying, if it’s all part of God’s plan
I believe knowing who God is and what prayer means is the first step to getting our answers.
God is the eternal supreme being who is the Creator, Sustainer and Ruler of the universe & all there in and the source of all moral authority. (Colossians 1:16, 2 Samuel 7:22)
Prayer is a deliberate communication with God, our Creator. It is the act of engaging in loving fellowship with the maker of heaven and earth. (Philippians 4:6)
Why do we pray?
We pray to find and enjoy ourselves in God’s presence [Revelation 3:20]
We pray to contact, obtain and absorb God
We pray to seek, find and know God’s will
We pray to find our place in God’s plan
We pray to align our will to God’s will [Luke 22:42]
We pray so that we may have the strength to carry out the will of God in the face of the most bitter opposition both physical and spiritual.
We pray to express God
How does praying help us?
Praying gives us the privilege to reverence God and demonstrate our appreciation and reliance on Him
Praying helps us to stay connected to our transcendent nature (John 4:24)
Prayer affords us the opportunity to express our innermost thoughts and desires to God (Matthew 12:24)
Prayer allows us a chance to ask God to meet our needs
Praying helps us to allow God’s love to shape the way we think about ourselves and others, it lets God change our minds and mindsets
Praying helps us to find comfort, guidance and strength in difficult times
Praying helps us to become more God-aware to interpret and relate better to the world around us
Times where God ignores our prayer
When we are ignoring God’s moral law & living in continual unrepentant sin (Proverbs 28:9)
When we ask with wrong motives or selfish desires (James 4:3)
When what we ask is not in God’s will (1 John 5:14)
When should we pray: ALL THE TIME
We must stay rooted in our source of existence and essence, so we don’t run dry and wither.
In Conclusion
God indeed has a plan for our lives
But it is up to us to choose whether to follow that plan or not.