Prayer plays an important role in our relationship with OUR Heavenly Father.  The Word of God tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing.”  If God wants us to pray without ceasing – you can bet that it must be important.  A healthy prayer life can be the most satisfying aspect of your life.

Prayer is not one-sided

In and of itself – prayer is not just for God, but it is for us as well.

One benefit of prayer is a stronger and healthier relationship with our Heavenly Father.  By praying we are opening up the lines of communication.  In order for any relationship to strive – you have to have good communication.  When praying to the Lord we are given the chance to express our worries, our praises, our hopes and dreams.  Make no mistake – God already knows these things, but He wants you to open the line of communication and keep it open.

Prayer is very therapeutic.

It has the power to reduce stress and worry.  Prayer can encourage us and get us through difficult times.  When we pray we are allowing God into our hearts and minds and the inner most chambers of our lives.  We are putting our burdens on God and He is working to ease them or remove them.  Sometimes He was only waiting for us to ask.  When we lean on Him the burdens become lighter as they are no longer ours to carry alone.  You can rest assured that God is in charge and that His will will be done.  Remembering Philippians 4:19 we can rest assured that He will “…supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”.

God Answers Prayer

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9)  An additional benefit to prayer is the ability to ask God for our heart’s desires.  Don’t misunderstand – you will not get just because you asked (even though sometimes it may seem like that was the case).  You must be walking in His Word and His wisdom in order that your heart will lean toward what is right and good.  He does and He will answer your prayers if they further His glory.

Remember – be careful what you ask for as well.  Sometimes you will get exactly what you ask for and down the road you will ask yourself something like “Why did I want that – it ruined me?”  Of course – in His sovereignty He knew it was not the best decision on YOUR part – but you needed to learn a lesson maybe – or someone else needed to see Christ in your reponse.

In Conclusion

The above are just a few of the benefits that a healthy prayer life can provide.  The fact that we were given the ability to communicate with our Heavenly Father is a privilege that should not be ignored.  You have the most powerful too ever at your disposal 24 hours a day seven days a week – PRAYER