Let’s dive right in.

What Is Prayer?

Prayer is a two-way conversation with God. We hear this so often that we often miss its simplicity. You listen (the best part)—and you know you are being listened to (also the best part).

When you listen, you listen for the voice of a trusted friend and heavenly Father. When you speak, you speak freely, without fear of being misunderstood or shamed. You can’t get that anywhere else. Sometimes, other people, even people who love us dearly, can misunderstand us or leave us frustrated, but God knows us completely.

It can be tempting to sometimes treat prayer like a Wishlist or another thing to check off your to-do list. But prayer is so much more than that.

Prayer is our opportunity to get to know the God who created us, sustains us, and loves us. And yet, when we come before God, we often present Him with a list of things we want—like a grocery list. Can you imagine if you did that to your spouse or a dear friend? What a downer! It wouldn’t feel very much like a conversation. When we talk to other trusted people in our life, we usually talk quite naturally, jumping from one topic to another, or we spend hours geeking out over the details of our favorite topic, reveling in the feeling of being understood and loved.

That’s the kind of connection we can have with God. Sure, we can absolutely come to Him when we need something. But we don’t only pray then. Prayer is an ongoing conversation with God. A conversation that may not always change your circumstances, but that always changes you.

Why Should I Pray?

Why is it so important that we talk to God daily? Or even at all?

Not only do we get to develop our relationship and intimacy with God, but we also get to share our needs with Him. We need wisdom. We need guidance. We need comfort. We need connection to God and others. We need victory over sin. We need grace—grace to help in times of need. Good news! We are encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace—to pray boldly before God—“that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 NIV.

Here are some other reasons why we should talk to God daily.

Because you can! It’s pretty awesome to be able to regularly talk with the Creator of the universe.

He promises that if we ask, we will receive, that if we seek, we will find, and that if we knock, the door will be opened to us (Matthew 7:7-8).

He invites us to cast all our anxiety on Him (1 Peter 5:7).

He invites us to turn our worries into prayers (Philippians 4:7).

He invites us to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10).

He promises that we will find Him if we seek with all our hearts (Jeremiah 29:13).

He sends His Spirit to pray through us when our words fail us (Romans 8:26-27).

We have a lot of good reasons to pray daily! I'm a paragraph. Click once to begin entering your own content. You can change my font, size, line height, color and more by highlighting part of me and selecting the options from the toolbar.