It may seem a strange question, but I am sure to those who don’t know God, the idea of prayer must seem very strange. I am not ashamed to tell you that I pray to God because I am totally insufficient to solve my problems without God.
I was not always so insufficient to the task. I spent a good 15 years in charge of my own life with no sovereign over me. I had turned my back on the God who saved me because I felt “I could handle my life myself.” I think you can imagine how that turned out. I ruined my health, I ruined my relationships, and I was left depressed and hopeless most of the time despite having a successful career, my own business, a child and a house. My sufficiency was woefully inadequate. Turns out, I could not control myself or others, and I was exhausted from trying to keep everything together.
I was fortunate in that my God did not leave me to my own sufficiency, but rather He came looking for me. Like the shepherd who lost one sheep and left the 99 others to go find the one that was lost, my God came to find me where I had wandered. He found me lost, alone, dirty and caked with the mud of the world. He carried me back to the flock, and He cleaned me up and set me feet on the rock and gave me a new song. I would never go back by the grace of God.
I pray to God because He alone is able.
I pray to God because He is willing.
I pray to God because He loves me and wants what is best for me.
It is because of God’s goodness that He answers my prayers.
