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[Variant]

What exactly is the purpose of prayer? If God knows everything, as he is omnipotent, and he has a master plan for everything, what exactly is praying supposed to do?

Note: I personally am not religious, but identify as a LaVeyan Satanist. Sorry if offend you.

[jimwalton]

No offense taken. Prayer is conversation with God that's an important part of the relationship (as it is an important part of any relationship). I talk to God, most of the time, not to get stuff out of him, but because I want to talk to him. I love him, and I want a relationship with him. So I talk. Just as I talk to my spouse, I am invited to talk to God about anything. It’s my relationship, not a wish list. He’s not Santa Claus, but my God.

I have learned (at least) three things from the Bible about prayer that I wish to bring out here. First, almost all of what God promises to do for me in the Bible is internal, not circumstantial. According to the Bible, if I’m going to ask anything from God in prayer, 90% of the time it's going to pertain to inner qualities: patience, strength, clarity of thought, the power of the Spirit, and the like. This is what the Bible instructs me to ask for. Second, almost all of what God does circumstantially is through other people. If God is going to answer my prayers about something in my circumstances, it will likely happen through rather normal means: the actions or words of a person, something I read, a thought in my head. But how am I supposed to tell what is normal occurrence and what is God’s hand? A Secret Service agent is trained to look for certain things, and when in a crowd, he knows what to look for and how to recognize it. His eyes are different than mine. So also an accountant poring over ledgers, a hunter in the wild, a detective on the scene, a psychologist in a session, or a teacher assessing her pupils. Our training legitimately affects what we see, how we interpret it, and our attitude about it. So also a Christian. Through reading the Bible, and growing in our Christian walk, we are trained to see the hand of God; we understand how he works, what his activity looks like, and how to recognize it. Others will just see normal things, no different than if I were to look over ledger books or go hunting. I won’t see squat. The trained eye will see another world. I have learned to see God's hand in my world, and to recognize answers to prayer.

Third, answers are often not what I had in mind. In the Bible people prayed for stuff, and as you analyze the story and its causes and effects, you see that they got what they prayed for, but not at all what they prayed for. It’s like the poem:

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve,
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do greater things,
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy,
I was given poverty, that I might be wise...
I asked for power, that I might have praise from men,
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life,
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things...
I got nothing I asked for, but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among all men most richly blessed.

For instance, in the OT, the Assyrian army was threatening Jerusalem. They had already crushed and burned the cities of Judah; now the capital was in the crosshairs. The king and the prophet prayed for Jerusalem to be spared. Over the course of the next period of time, a rat infestation annihilated the Assyrian camp with disease, and they had to withdraw. Well, that’s not quite what the king probably had in mind, but it was an answer to the prayer. Then it tells us that the Assyrian emperor was murdered by his own sons. That was 20 years later, but still considered an answer to the same prayer. Weird, huh? But that’s what I’m talking about. Once you understand how God works, you see things that others think "just happened" and recognize their connection to prayer.

So what is the purpose of prayer? Seeking the pleasure of God's company. I talk to him because I love him. If it's all gimme-gimme-gimme—well, who wants a friend like that? He's not the fairy God-Father. We shut out the noise of the earth to commune with the song of heaven. And life goes on with its blessings and tragedies. My circumstantial life is no different than anyone else's, but my inner life is a treasure trove of immense difference. I have learned to see the hand of God around me, and it often surprises me in all its forms. God is all around me, actively at work. Do I get what I pray for? Only like the poem. Not what I ask for some of the time, but answers none the less. God is taking care of me. Sure, I get stones some days and fish others; some days I'm Job, some I'm in mountain mode. I never hear a voice, and I've learned not to trust the thoughts that come to me in prayer. Some are trustworthy, and some aren't. They need to be assessed because my mind is an unreliable source. I talk to God in prayer; he talks to me through his Word (Now THERE’S a treasure trove).

Prayer is not a hurling of hope or faith into the darkness. No, just a sometimes peaceful and sometimes agitated heart taking time to talk it over with the Lord. Sometimes I try to picture him when I talk. Not the old guy with the geezer beard, but the fathomless I AM beyond space and time. My mind gets lost in the immensity and grandeur, but it helps orient me to whom I'm really speaking. I talk in real words, not grandiose poetic ones.

Don't get me wrong. Prayer is anything but a smooth road. But I'm learning. Just like I'm learning how to be a good husband. I learn as I go. Meanwhile I show my love in every way I can. Good communication is an important part of that picture.

[Variant]

That's a really good answer. Thanks for your awesome reply.