In Matthew 6:32, Jesus tells a crowd something that can be both comforting and confusing: "For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all."

It's comforting to know that God knows our needs and takes them to heart, but then comes this question: If God knows our needs, then what's the point in praying? Why doesn't He just meet our needs?

The answer is this: Prayer is petition, but only partially. If we view prayer as simply a means of sending a request slip to God for things that we need, then we miss the point of prayer. When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, He taught them to start by saying "Our Father in heaven..." (Matthew 6:9) What does that mean for us?

Relationship, Not Request

Our prayer starts with an acknowledgment first of a relationship we share with God. He's not just a cosmic vending machine. He is our Father. He's not just a Father, but He is OUR Father. I have a pastor friend who has this nice little habit of saying "Good morning, God" or "Hi, God" to start a prayer.

Prayer is first a relational habit, not a transactional one. While God knows our needs, He wants us to approach Him and talk about them, not to educate Him on our situation (which He is always aware of) but to confide in Him.

Faith, Not Fear

Asking is essential in prayer not because of what it does to God, but what it does to us. When we ask in prayer, we don't look to expand God's knowledge of our needs, but to expand our faith through asking. James 1:15 says, "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind."

Sometimes we have trouble asking because we have trouble believing that we are worthy or that God is willing. Let us always remember and put our faith on the fact that we are made worthy by the blood of Christ, and that God is now willing to listen and respond because of Christ.

Closeness, Not Compliance

God asks us to ask so that we draw nearer to Him.

Here's a problem that has existed for millennia: People think that God is all about rules. Rules are important, but they are there to strengthen the relationship. This holds true for Mosaic rules and for the precepts of prayer God asks us to comply lovingly with today.

We don't ask just because we're told to ask, but because it is in asking that we get to come into the presence of God and enjoy it. In that we find that even just coming to the presence of God is a prayer answered in itself. Don't just pray to receive your requests. Pray to respond to the presence of a God who is close to us at all times.