Christian Reflection and Prayer

"For Jesus, prayer was as necessary as breathing. If the
Son of God felt such a great need for contact with the
Father, how much more do we need?... Why do we need
to pray? Why do we need to tell Him what He already
knows?... We think the purpose of prayer is to give
information to God.

"No, the purpose of prayer is not to inform God about
our needs, but to conform us to His will. Prayer doesn't
change God. Prayer changes us. It changes are attitude
from complaint to praise. It enables us to participate in
God's eternal plan. It makes us aware of our total
inadequacy---in God's infinite sufficiency.

"The goal of faith is to bring us into direct, personal
fellowship with God. If we do not move deeper into our
fellowship with Him through prayer, we retreat from
fellowship with Him... You either pray your way to a
deeper relationship with God---or you lose heart and
ultimately give up on faith.

"That, as we shall see, is the first thing Jesus teaches
us about prayer."

(Ray G. Stedman, "Talking with My Father: Jesus Teaches on Prayer")