The Purpose of Prayer

“As He was praying…when He ceased,  one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray…And He said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father…” A dear evangelist friend, now with the Lord, wrote a popular book years ago entitled, “Prayer-Asking and Receiving.” But this is only one of the many aspects, or should I say, bonuses of prayer. Any and all things resulting from our prayers are to be considered minor in comparison to being in the presence of our heavenly Father.

When we pray, if our main goal and chief desire is in wanting something, rather than “Someone,” then we have missed the real purpose of prayer. God first and foremost longs for fellowship with man, His supreme creation. And He is still seeking for communion with His children, just as He did when “walking in the garden in the cool of the day,” those many years ago.

When Jesus chose the twelve disciples, we’re told the purpose was, “that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach.” Before anything else, Jesus longed just to be with His chosen. This was not only true in His earthly life, but now in heaven also. In His high priestly prayer in John chapter seventeen, His request to God concerning His own was, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.” As my wife has often said, “I can understand me wanting to be with Him, but I’ll never understand Him wanting to be with the likes of me.”

Prayer is firstly about relationship, not requests.