Though I am now using them for a different purpose than he did, I am indebted to Greg Boyd for some of the concepts I am sharing below regarding why we pray.

Why do we pray? In a nutshell, the reason why we pray has to do with our God-given reality.

1. Love requires freedom.
2. Freedom creates risk.
3. Risk creates moral responsibility.
4. Moral responsibility is generally proportionate to influence.
5. Influence is (generally) irrevocable.
6. Power to influence is limited.

Regarding love & freedom: genuine love requires significant freedom. And such freedom is supported through influence, not coercion. God influences humans. Humans influence other humans. Humans also influence God through prayer.

Before you panic: influencing God is not: manipulating God, tricking God, overcoming His unwillingness to do good, nor is it calming God down.

Regarding influence: When God influences us, He may tell us stuff we don’t already know. Other humans may also tell us stuff we don’t know when influencing us. But when we pray, we humans never tell God stuff He doesn’t previously know!

Matthew 6:7-8 NLT “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

God often must influence people who are: suspicious to His point of view, reluctant to follow His advice, and even hostile toward Him. We humans also influence others who possess these same traits. But God does not share these negative character traits! So, when we pray, we do not have to overcome God’s suspicion, or His reluctance, let alone His hostility toward us!

Whether we are influencing God or others: we present our wants/needs. Generally, these can be/are met only after they have been presented. Why? Because time is an essential element of influence, whether we are influencing God or humans.

To have love and freedom we must also have the ability to influence. Prayer supports the existence of real love and significant freedom because it is a type of influence.

There are also practical reasons why we pray:

1. Friendship requires open and regular communication.
2. You and I have wants and needs.
3. God wants to talk to us!

Regarding our wants & needs:

Matthew 6:11 NLT Give us today the food we need,

Regarding our heart’s desires:

Psalm 37:4 NLT Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

“Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children.” Steps to Christ, 100.

Regarding God’s desire to talk with us:

Proverbs 1:23 I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you.

These are God’s words to us! He wants to pour out His thoughts to us! He wants His words, His messages, to be known, to be clear to us!

Why pray?

1 Peter 5:7 NLT Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Matthew 7:11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

It is a part of God’s plan to grant us, in answer to the prayer of faith, that which He would not bestow did we not thus ask. The Great Controversy, 525

God’s responses to prayer: God answers prayers in multiple ways; He might say:

1. Yes
2. No
3. Yes/No -> Better!
4. Wait/Later
5. Maybe?
6. Unprayed answers

Yes, no, and wait/later are all straightforward, though waiting is painful!

How can we respond to periods of waiting? By leveraging our waiting times! We can use those periods to pray, worship, study God’s word, seek fun times with others, and serve others. These activities will change us for the better as well as help the time fly by.

Yes/No -> Better! Is when God answers our prayers, so—yes, but at the same time He doesn’t give us what we asked for, so—no, but instead He gives us something better than we asked for!

For example, Elijah asked God to kill him now (1 Kings 19:4). God answered this prayer: with a yes, He would meet Elijah’s needs, but with a big fat NO as to killing Elijah! Instead, God gave Elijah food, water, strength, direction, and finally a partner, a trainee, Elisha, who shared and then took the burden of Elijah’s work from him. God then took Elijah to heaven! Elijah never experienced death! Definitely, Yes/No -> Better!

Maybe? Is an ambiguous category in which I lump odd stories, such as:

Deuteronomy 3:23-28 “At that time I pleaded with the LORD and said, 24 ‘O Sovereign LORD, you have only begun to show your greatness and the strength of your hand to me, your servant. Is there any god in heaven or on earth who can perform such great and mighty deeds as you do? 25 Please let me cross the Jordan to see the wonderful land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon mountains.’ 26 “But the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he would not listen to me. ‘That’s enough!’ he declared. ‘Speak of it no more. 27 But go up to Pisgah Peak, and look over the land in every direction. Take a good look, but you may not cross the Jordan River. 28 Instead, commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead the people across the Jordan. He will give them all the land you now see before you as their possession.’

Yet oddly, Moses did end up in the land of Canaan! It just wasn’t when he wished to go; in fact, it was much later! And under vastly different circumstances!

Mark 9:2-4 NLT Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus.

For lack of a better label, I call this a maybe! Study the prayers listed below prayerfully and carefully and see what God teaches you about them!

These are odd prayer stories:

Abraham & God in Genesis 18
Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32
Moses & God in the Golden Calf episode in Exodus 32
Moses’ complaint to God in Numbers 11
Balaam & God in Numbers 22-24
The Lord denying Moses entrance into Canaan in Deuteronomy 3; Mark 9
Hezekiah and God in Isaiah 38
Syro-Phoenician woman & Jesus in Matthew 15
Jesus & God in Gethsemane in Matthew 26; Luke 22

People in both the OT and the NT knew that God is compassionate, approachable, and flexible! This is why we find these odd prayers in the Bible.

And as for the label: Unprayed answers, because God is good He does not always wait for us to ask before He gives us what we need! For prayer-as-influence to support freedom God does not need to wait until we ask every single time!

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

Prayer is a deep subject! People approached Jesus over 180 times with questions. Of these Jesus replied with a direct answer, maybe three times? The rest Jesus responded to with a different question, a story, or some other indirection. Jesus loved making people think for themselves—prayer often operates the same way! Prayer makes us think!

Questions

Why should we pray? Why must we pray?

How should we think about the odd prayers in Scripture?

Are you okay with God answering some prayers only if He is asked to do so? Why or why not?

Why did Jesus often answer questions put to Him directly so indirectly?

In what ways does prayer make you think?

Do you believe that God is compassionate, approachable, and flexible? If not, is there one of these that especially troubles you? And if so, which one and why?