What is prayer?
Prayer is going into the presence of God, telling Him a need that I believe falls within his desired will to grant, surrendering myself and committing my ways to the Lord, then leaving Him to deal with the situation as He sees best while believing that he has intervened in my behalf.
Here is how A. W. Pink puts it. “Prayer is coming to God, telling Him my need (or the need of others), committing my way unto the Lord, and then leaving Him to deal with the case as seems best to him…prayer is fundamentally an attitude of dependency upon God…Prayer is a confession of creature weakness, yes, of helplessness. Prayer is the acknowledgment of our need and the spreading of it before God.” I would add that we do this with expectant faith that God would come to our aid in the way he sees fit. That when we pray, God works all things for our good.
This allows God to answer our prayers in whatever way He sees fit. Many times, His answer would be the very opposite of what our flesh would want, but if we discern carefully, his answer will always be the best answer for us. A good example of this is the case of Lazarus in John 11. Even though Jesus loved Lazarus and his family, he didn’t answer their prayer the way they may have hoped. Why? Jesus answered that, “…for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it” John 11:4b NIV. Jesus chose the answer that most glorified God, not one that was most convenient or expedient to those who asked it. Yet, the beautiful thing is that God has made it in such a way that what glorifies him most ends up what brings us the most joy.
The apostle Paul prayed for his “thorn in the flesh” a messenger from Satan to torment him to be taken away from him. God answered the prayer in a way different from what Paul had sought. He instead gave Paul grace to bear it. He didn’t take it away from Paul because it was good for Paul.
Prayer is not the only form of communication we can have with God. We can fellowship with God and affirm the beauty and excellency of his person. We can tell God, “You are wonderful or Lord.” That isn’t prayer yet we have talked with him. We may tell him how we feel about a situation, that doesn’t have to be prayer. Prayer is a request you make for God to intervene in a situation on your behalf or the behalf of others. Prayer is best done within the context of communion or fellowship with God. Even when it comes to human beings, you’re more likely to get help when you ask it from a person you are already in a good relationship with.