Our faith is built up by a two way conversation with our Lord. We've talked about God speaking to us through His word in building our faith, but through prayer we speak to Him and in that conversation we come to know Him and therefore trust Him and are better able to faith Him in every circumstance.
I want to reiterate eleven things that the great R. A. Torrey listed as reasons for prayer:
(1) because there is a devil and prayer is the God-appointed means of resisting him;
(2) because prayer is God's way for us to obtain what we need from Him;
(3) because the apostles, whom God gave as our pattern, considered prayer to be the most important business of their lives;
(4) because prayer occupied a very prominent place and played a very important part in the earthly life of our Lord;
(5) because prayer is the most important part of the present ministry of our Lord, since He is now interceding for us (Heb. 7:25);
(6) because prayer is the means God has appointed for our receiving mercy from Him and of obtaining grace to help in time of need;
(7) because prayer is the means of obtaining the fullness of God's joy;
(8) because prayer, with thanksgiving, is the means of obtaining freedom from anxiety and, in anxiety's place, the peace that passes all human understanding;
(9) because prayer is the method appointed for obtaining the control of God's Holy Spirit over us;
(10) because prayer is the means by which we are to keep watchful and alert at Christ's return; and
(11) because prayer is used by God to promote our spiritual growth, bring power into our work, lead others to faith in Christ and bring all other blessing to Christ's church. (How to Pray, by R. A. Torrey, 1900)
Our individual and corporate faith and worship is certainly impacted by how, and how faithfully we pray. May we continue to be a people of the Book, but also a people on our knees. We will see and experience results in both our worship and our faith living. mjm
