Answers to QUESTIONS about PRAYER | Humiliation & Exaltation in Worship

When people feel free to ask questions regarding the nature and practice of prayer, the questions that commonly arise are quite constructive. Let’s consider four of these common questions. What is prayer? “Biblical prayer is crying to God out of the depths; it is pouring out the soul before God…. It often takes the form of importunity, passionate pleading to God, even wrestling with God.” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, p., 947. Is prayer a waste of time, avoidance, or escapism? “Biblical spirituality entails not withdrawal from the turmoils of the world but identification with the world in its shame and affliction…The goal of prayer is not absorption into the being of God but transformation of the world for the glory of God. We yearn for the blessed vision of God, but even more, we seek to bring our wills and the wills of all people into conformity with the purposes of God. We pray not simply for happiness or protection (as in primitive prayer) but for the advancement and extension of the kingdom of God.” EDT, p., 947 If God already knows what we need why do we have to pray for it? The Almighty God commands His people to pray to Him because He, in His grace, has ordained the means as well as the end of His mighty works. He Has chosen to include us in His great works. He calls His people to prayer because He desires to give them fresh supplies of grace. He seeks to embolden their faith through witnessing His many answers to prayer. He invites His covenant people to pray because prayer is integral to worship itself. Why should the church gather and pray together? “Christian prayer is both corporate and individual. We find God in solitariness, but we never remain in this state. Instead, we seek to unite our sacrifices of praise and our petitions and intercessions with those of the company of fellow believers. The man or woman of prayer may find God both in solitude and in fellowship. Even in solitude, we believe that the petitioner is not alone but is surrounded by a cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1), the angels and the saints in the church triumphant.” EDT, p., 947. Answering these common questions about prayer explains why prayer is essential to our worship of God.