WHAT IF in all of our carefully thought out lists of requests and our own ideas of prayer, we are completely missing the point?  What if we are completely missing God when we pray?

Many times when we pray, we come to God with our “list” of requests.  When we think our requests are all there is to prayer, we are missing Him in the process.  We completely miss the power of prayer when we view prayer in this way.  “The point of prayer is not to get answers from God, but to have perfect and complete oneness with Him.”1  Prayer is not so much about our requests as it is about our relationship!  The purpose of prayer is to draw us near to the heart of God, not to manipulate God to our purposes.  It is about total and complete surrender to His purposes; being willing to lay ours down.

Even when our prayers seem to go “unanswered” by our definition, God is hearing our prayers and moving in our lives.  God often uses our prayers that come from deep places of pain and despair to draw us to Him.   He draws us to a place of deeper intimacy with Him, knowing Him.  He may not “fix” every circumstance that we petition, but if He allows the circumstance, He will use it to change us.  It’s about surrendering to His purposes for our lives.  Prayer is the vehicle that allows us to draw near to the heart of God, experiencing Him in the deepest places.   “When you seem to have no answer, there is always a reason- God uses these times to give you deep personal instruction, and it is not for anyone else but you.”2

Simply put, prayer is about relationship.  Prayer is about intimacy.  Prayer is the amazing tool we have been given to draw near to the heart of our Father, the One who loves us and cares for us.   He knows our needs before we even ask him  (Matthew 6:8).