Why We Pray - The One Year Praying in Faith Devotional

Why We Pray

The heavens belong to the LORD, but he has given the earth to all humanity. Psalm 115:16

AT THE BEGINNING, God gave human beings a responsibility to steward this planet. He did not enthrone us as autonomous kings, but he did design us to partner with him in his Kingship. Unfortunately, we squandered this enormous privilege and handed this stewardship over to unholy forces with dangerous agendas. Earth became infected with evil, and only those who were specially called seemed to recognize their role to intercede between heaven and earth. The keys God had given his people to his Kingdom were rarely used well.

But God became man in order to regain those keys and distribute them to people of faith. And today we are being remade in his image and restored to our royal stewardship of his Kingdom, with authority. Why? Because God honors his original plan. He has given us responsibility over this world, and he rarely intervenes unless we invite him. He is Lord, but we are his agents. And he has chosen not to circumvent his agents but to work through them. As landlords of his earthly holdings, we become cosigners of his decrees. We are the vehicles of his work on earth.

That’s why we pray. Perhaps you see prayer as personal communication with God, a means of getting what you need from him, a conversation that draws you closer. It’s that, but it’s more. Many have wondered why God doesn’t just go ahead and accomplish his will on his own, and this is a big part of the answer. God has chosen not to rule this world unilaterally. He designed us to be stewards at the beginning (Genesis 1:28), and we will rule with him in the end (Revelation 5:10). He has always sought people to intervene and, in the absence of a completely righteous person, became human himself in order to fulfill and restore human agency in his Kingdom (Isaiah 59:16-17). Now he has given us his own keys, reestablishing us as stewards and landlords to implement his will in this world (Matthew 16:19). One of the most effective and powerful ways to do that is through prayer.

Make that your mission. Invite God into every corner of your world. Partner with him in his answers. You are praying his Kingdom into earth.

Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the kingdom.