If God is always present, why should we bother God until we really need help? If we’re going the wrong way down a one-way street, God will surely let us know. In the meanwhile we can just get on with our lives. Why pray every day? Here’s why:
1) Prayer is conversation.
Conversation is a two-way street. If you want to know what someone’s thinking, you spend time with them. You ask them questions. You call, you email, you text, you write. If I don’t hear from someone in a while, it’s pretty easy to lose touch. Why do that with God?
2) Prayer is reflection.
Early in our marriage my wife and I established the half-hour rule. We realized that we didn’t really connect with on-the-fly questions like “Have you paid the rent yet?” and “What should we get for dinner tonight?” The deeper stuff only came out when we sat down and talked. We don’t always make it half-an-hour every night, but we get there more often than not. Wouldn’t you want to do the same in prayer?
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3) Prayer is comfortable silence.
You know how it is with the people you love most. You’ve been together enough that you can talk about anything but you can also just be silent together. Silence can speak volumes. Silence with God is comfortable silence. As the Psalmist said, “To You even silence is praise.”
4) Prayer is a habit.
Remember all those good habits your parents taught you? You brush your teeth before you go to bed at night, you cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough, you say please and thank you. Habits become so ingrained we’re lost without them. Prayer becomes that kind of habit when we do it every day.
5) Prayer is a friend.
You can call on a friend at the last minute or in a crisis because you know them well. They come to your aid without your even asking—they know you that well. They anticipate your needs. You thank them but you know you could never thank them enough. Make prayer that kind of friend.
