Why Pray?

Why pray? What motivates us to pray day after day? Are you the type of person who has no problem praying when things are difficult, but struggles to remain faithful once things are good again?

Jesus deals with the issue of our motivation when he said, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13 ESV) In this verse we can clearly see what motivates Jesus to answer our prayers. Instead of emphasizing his empathy or his deep desire to make our lives peaceful and prosperous, Jesus purposely highlights the ultimate aim of answered prayers. Take note of the word “that” in the scripture above and take time to ponder how important it is that God is glorified in our answered prayers. Doing this can suddenly drain your prayers of selfish ambition and fill them with a more noble desire to see God continually exalted.

Too often we are motivated to pray because we view prayer as a tool of unlimited potential in our hands and forget that prayer has a greater purpose as a tool in the hands of God. Prayer and answered prayers are not meant to be tools that enable us to build self-sufficient lives. Prayer was never meant to stop with you and remain in your prayer closet. Instead of looking selfishly at your problems, weaknesses, and trials as obstacles to well living, start looking at them as opportunities for God to receive more glory.  

If you struggle in your prayer life, ask yourself a simple question: “What keeps my prayer life alive, driven, and passionate?” If it’s a veiled pursuit of selfish gain your prayer life will never be what God intended it to be and be held hostage to the continual state of flux. The lasting motivation to a strong prayer life is the active pursuit of seeing God glorified through answered prayers. Clearly, God gets more glory when he remains the object, motivation, and aim of our prayers!