Prayer as we know is a way or means of communication to God. It is a time when talk to God and God talks back to us. However many people pray amiss, this is because many people do not the reason why they pray or why they should pray.
Therefore, it is pertinent to understand why we pray. If we do not, we would abuse it. When the purpose of a thing is not known abuse is inevitable.
COMMUNICATION: It is our way of speaking with our father. Only by communication do we know the mind of the father. There are times we may want to do something that pleases us but then that is not the will of the father and he wants us to do something else that would bring glory to his name, this is why we pray.
DIRECTION: we pray for direction. God directs us where to go, what to do and how to do it. Direction is one of the bed rocks of life. Paul says “all things are lawful to me but not all things are expedient”. This is because he is a man directed by God; if not, he would be doing everything everyone is doing. That everyone is doing it is not a guarantee that it is right and that it is from God. This is why we pray to seek his face for direction so that we do not go against his perfect will.
TO FOCUS: Prayer helps us to focus and concentrate. Man has insatiable desires, so, if we do not pray, our thoughts wangle and wants to think about everything, our thoughts stray on its own. But in the place of prayer or when we pray it helps us focus. This is why Paul admonishes us to pray mostly in the spirit because when we pray in the spirit our human senses are numbed but the spirit comes alive and then translates into physical reality.
TO BUILD OUR FAITH: when we do not pray, our lives and faith diminishes and make one to be a prey in the hand of the devil. When we do not pray we live in fear and torment, for the absence of faith is fear. Jude 1:20 says, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves, on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost”. Prayer shatters the arms of fear which is one of the antics of the devil.
TO BUILD OUR LOVE: Prayer builds our love for God and man. When we pray, our human ideology and walls that we build for ourselves are broken. For in him our love is made perfect. 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love caseth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love”.
This is the understanding we should have when we want to pray. It is not to ask God for money, house, shoes and spouse. Prayer is an opening into the realm of the spirit to understand the heart of the father.
