How Often Do You Communicate With God?

A beaver in a prayerful mood

Why should we pray if God already has our best interest at heart? And if prayer is not important why did Jesus tell us to pray in His name? Apart from guiding our lives to the rightful goal, knowing God and understanding Him is an integral part of prayer.

We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, without air, we can’t survive, similarly, prayer brings God into our lives, helps to direct everything towards Him, straightens our thoughts, feelings and at the same time helps to eliminate false objectives and effects.

Imagine, a car is a non-living thing, yet needs regular maintenance to keep the engine running. Therefore, if you are a human being but only work, eat and sleep, without prayers, how can you become spiritually strong to stand firm against this world's temptation, pressure, and hate which threaten us daily?

The importance of prayer is derived from the ends that command it. These ends are four, adoration, praise and thanksgiving, the request for forgiveness and the request for thanks. Adoration reminds us of the kindness of God, therefore, we must put our trust in him.

Praise and thanksgiving maintain in our hearts and give us all benefits, which are immense and continuous. The request for forgiveness revives the awareness that we have used his gifts and have been the cause of His crucifixion.

The request for thanks reminds us that we are insufficient to ourselves; therefore, we cannot do anything and get nothing without his help.

Praying every day doesn’t make one a Christian or Muslim but applying the principles of what God or Allah requires from us radiates like a light in our lives, straighten our thoughts, feelings and give us the ability to avoid falling into temptations and Satan traps.

Prayer is effective too if we also pray for others because it distracts attention from ourselves and turns towards the needs of those around us. The practice of it is ‘blessed is the hand that giveth than the one that taketh.

All the great characters in the Bible, including Jesus, Moses, Joshua, Mary, Joseph, Daniel and the prophets, communicated with God through prayers, we can, therefore, emulate them.