That question though! I don’t know if I would have given such a direct answer. I would have wanted to explain or go around the question. My answer would have been something like we pray to communicate our needs, wants and gratitude to God. If you think about it this is what we literally do when we pray, question is do our prayers reflect our love for God?
Some of my prayers sound a lot like a list of long reminders on an email; an email whose reply hasn’t come at the expected time. The reminders come in all shades and fonts; Calibri bold and underlined, bookman old style font 14, or red font 12 verdana with exclamation marks on its tail to express frustration.
I have noticed each time I pray about something I start to see God exclusively in that context. Like if am praying for healing, I am only focused on the fact that Jesus healed people while on earth. I forget he was a compassionate and sympathetic too. I forget that God is all knowing because all I can see right now is my current need. I momentarily remember to forget that even when the earth was without form and was filled with darkness he existed.
In the book of Job chapter 39, God asks Job questions which he asks us each time we are too focused on our need and forget who he is.
Job 39 New International Version (NIV)
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
2 Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.
5 “Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?
6 I gave it the wasteland as its home,
the salt flats as its habitat.
7 It laughs at the commotion in the town;
it does not hear a driver’s shout.
8 It ranges the hills for its pasture
and searches for any green thing.
9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will it stay by your manger at night?
10 Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?
Will it till the valleys behind you?
11 Will you rely on it for its great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12 Can you trust it to haul in your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
though they cannot compare
with the wings and feathers of the stork.
14 She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its strength
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust,
striking terror with its proud snorting?
21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
and charges into the fray.
22 It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread its wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and build its nest on high?
28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is its stronghold.
29 From there it looks for food;
its eyes detect it from afar.
30 Its young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there it is.”
On the days I focus only on my need I forget that He’s Omni present. The very days I wonder where God is I forget He bears the ability to be everywhere at the same time. When you love someone you trust them and take them at their word. Praying because we love God means that as we come to him we trust that he’s omnipotent, omniscient and still omnipresent.
This is a challenge am willing to take up; to pray because I love God.
