Why Pray When God Knows Everything?

Why pray when God knows everything?

Have you ever asked yourself this question? If God is sovereign and a good Father who knows all our needs, then why bother praying? Why pray if in the end God’s will can’t be thwarted (Job 42:2)? Isn’t praying a waste of time? Here are a few reasons why this is emphatically not the case.
Because God commands us to pray
Prayer is not optional but required (1 Thess. 5:17). We may say, “but does it any good?” That is not the issue. He told us to pray, that should be enough. And besides, would God ask us to do something that is useless?

Because prayer benefits us
Prayer shapes and deepens our relationship with the Lord. It demonstrates that we need him. When we praise him and confess our sins, we are stirred to love, worship, and know him more as our Redeemer and Friend. Prayer is so much more than asking for things.  

Because prayer honors our Lord
Persistent, believing prayers gladden God’s heart. When we say, “your will be done”, we show him that we recognize his lordship over our lives and that we trust his wisdom in answering our requests.

Because our prayers are effective (Jam. 5:16)
There is a mystery to prayer. This side of heaven we will never fully resolve the “tension” between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Certain things will happen no matter how much you and I pray. If we decided to pray for Jesus not to return, he would still return. And yet throughout Scripture we see God’s people pray and God answering those prayers. We will not know how much of what happens is the result of God’s direct intervetion and how much is in response to our prayers, but he promised us that our prayers will not dissolve into meaningless oblivion (Jer. 33:3). No human being had a deeper belief in and understanding of divine sovereignty than Jesus and no man prayed more seriously and effectively than him. May the same be said of us.


Pastor Mark