SEVEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRAYER

PRAYER.  There are few Bible subjects that elicit so much interest and curiosity. Consider seven commonly asked questions about prayer; then join us in examining the answers provided in the Bible.  These articles are designed to help you pray-to begin praying or to make your prayers more effective.


(1)  PRAYER-Why? 

AROUND the world, in every culture and religion, people pray.  They pray when they are alone; they pray in groups. They pray in churches, in temples, in synagogues, in mosques, at shrines.  They may use prayer rugs, rosary beads, prayers wheels, icons, prayer books, or prayers written on small boards that they hang on racks. 

Prayer sets humans apart from all other life on this earth. Granted, we have much in common with animals. Like them, we need food, air, and water. Like them, we are both born, we live, and we die.  (Ecclesiastes 3:19)  But only humans pray. Why?

Perhaps the simplest answer is that we need to.  Prayer, after all, is generally seen as a way for people to reach out to the spirit realm, to something they view as holy, or sacred, and eternal.  The Bible shows that we were made with an appetite for such things.  (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Jesus Christ once said:  "Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need." -Matthew 5:3. 

A "spiritual need"-how else could one explain all those religious edifices and artifacts, all those countless hours spent in prayer?  Of course, some people look to themselves or to their fellow humans to fill spiritual needs.  Do you not sens, though, that humans are just too limited to help adequately? (Note: Yes, I do, because we are imperfect sinful humans and are not qualified to fill those needs)  We are so frail, short-lived, shortsighted. Only someone far wiser, more powerful, more enduring than we are can give us what we need. And just what are these spiritual needs that drive us to pray?  

 Next time:Conclusion of  SEVEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRAYER/PRAYER -Why?

From the Watchtower magazine