1 John 5:14-15

One question reverberates through the heart of nearly all Christians at some point in their faith walk: If God knows everything about me, why do I need to pray to have my needs met? The Lord has specific reasons for not using His omnipotence to respond to certain desires and hurts unless we share those things with Him.

God encourages us to pray in order to build an intimate personal relationship between Himself and us. He is interested in much more than meeting our needs; He also wants to become our source of strength in every trial. We know from experience that developing any friendship takes a commitment of time. Quick three-minute prayers—though valuable and important for maintaining continuous “fragrant incense” before God—are not enough to sustain a personal connection with our Father.

James 1:17 says, “Every good gift . . . is from above” (niv). The Lord wants us to acknowledge Him as the source of all our blessings. Directing our prayers toward God and trusting that they will be answered in His will and timing strengthens our awareness that without Him, we can achieve nothing. In the Christian life, our dependence upon God grows in direct proportion to our spiritual maturity. Such a concept runs contrary to our nature and culture, which prizes independence above all else.

We are privileged to belong to a God who desires a Father-child relationship with us. He could certainly meet our needs without a single word from us, but then we would never know the wonder of asking and receiving in love.