Top Ten Tuesday - "Why Pray?"

Happy Tuesday everyone!

For Top Ten Tuesday this week I wanted to share the Top Ten reasons on why to pray. This came from a chapter in a great book that I’m reading called A Woman’s Heart for God by Sheila Cragg.

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The chapter is entitled, “Why Pray?” and I thought it was a great question to have answered since God knows everything about us; he knows everything we have said and are going to say, so why pray?

These reasons were written by Sheila Cragg and I am just taking parts that spoke to me from her reasons why to share with you.

1. We pray because Jesus loves us and desires to have a personal; relationship with us – 1 John 4: 9-10
2. We pray because the Lord wants us to know Him better and love him more. Our love relationship with the Lord changes over time and as we pray and grow in our dependence on Him. Time spent in prayer grows in us the ability to love the Lord with more of our heart, soul, and mind. -  Jeremiah 31:3 and Matthew 22:37
3. We pray because we need to confess our wrongdoings and our wrong thinking.
4. We pray because we need the Lord’s guidance and direction in everything we do. He promises to lead us in everything that we do – Isaiah 42:16
5. We pray because the Lord is our greatest source of help and strength in trying times.  I know that when I have the greatest heartache and feel completely overwhelmed, I recognize my dependence on the Lord more. Sheila writes that the more we share our sorrows with the Lord and seek reassurance found in His word, the more we are aware of His caring presence. – 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
6. We pray because that is the way to find out how the Lord will provide for our needs and what He wants us to do in the process.
7. We pray because we need to be changed by the Lord so that we may bring glory to Him. Through prayer, the Lord transforms us by renewing our minds so that we no longer conform to the world’s ways. – Romans 12:2

Our main reason for praying is not to get answers but to know the Lord more personally; to understand and do His will and bring glory to Him.

8. We pray for ourselves and intercede for others because it is the way we see the Lord at work in our own life as well as other people’s lives.
9. We pray Scripture because we often don’t know what to pray, but we can present our words to God in His words. – Ephesians 4:22-24, Ezekiel 36:26-27, 2 Chronicles 16:9
10. We pray because our prayers are precious to the Lord. – Revelation 5:8

Revelation 8:3-4 God reminds us that our prayers matter to Him! J

I highly recommend this book and all that it shares. It is a great reminder of what it looks like to seek God with your whole heart!

I hope you had a terrific Tuesday and that this spoke to you as much as it did me.

xoxo,

Jen