One of the most thought-provoking questions I have heard is this: “If God is omniscient and already knows everything, why do we need to pray?”
The answer is simpler than many think, but before we get into why we pray, let’s read our anchor scripture on prayer.
What Luke 11:1-13 Teaches Us About Prayer
Our anchor scripture today is Luke 11:1-13 (NKJV). It says:
Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
This passage shows Jesus’ disciples asking Him to teach them to pray, the same way John taught his own disciples. Does this mean people didn’t already know how to pray? Of course not, scripture shows us people who prayed long before Jesus walked the earth, from Moses and Abraham all the way down to the prophets. By the time Jesus arrived, prayer was already a normal part of life.
So why did the disciples ask? Likely because they hadn’t developed their own habit of prayer yet and wanted to learn the best way to do it. So if you haven’t prayed before and want to know how to pray like the disciples did, or if you’re wondering, like our opening question asks, why pray at all if God already knows everything, this is a good place to start.
With that, let’s dive right in.
Why Pray, Especially Since God Already Knows It All
First, prayer is how we give God permission to act in our lives. It’s an act of humility that acknowledges our need for His help. God doesn’t force His way into our lives, after all, He gave us free will. As 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Second, we may not always understand or even like the way God chooses to answer our prayers. Prayer isn’t only about asking; it’s also about relationship. Through prayer, we come to know God and His ways more deeply, which helps us trust that He’s working for our good even when we can’t immediately see how.
So those are the two primary reasons we pray, even when God already knows exactly what situation we’re in. Prayer isn’t us informing Him of the problem, it’s us giving Him permission to act in our lives for our own good. It’s building relationship with Him so we truly know the One we’re asking, seeking His heart and not just His hands or what He can do for us. God waits for you to invite Him in because that’s how relationship, His ultimate goal for us, is built.
What Is Prayer, Exactly?
So what is prayer, exactly? In our anchor scripture, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray, and He answers practically by telling them what to say. Prayer is, first and foremost, communication, Jesus begins His answer with “when you pray, say,” which frames prayer as speech directed to God. Through prayer we admit to God that we need His help. We show that we can’t help ourselves, or that we’ve come to the end of ourselves and need Him to intervene.
But prayer as communication isn’t one-directional. God speaks back after we pray. We don’t usually hear an audible voice, we recognize His answer through scripture. Hebrews 1:1-2 says, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”
There are many competing voices, and we have to learn to discern between them, the voice of the enemy, the voice of our own flesh and desires, and the voice of God. In John 10:27, Jesus says His sheep know His voice and won’t follow a stranger’s. After we pray, we study God’s word to understand His mind on what we’ve asked. As daily prayer and Bible reading become a habit, it’s only natural that God responds while we study.
This is why, as effective as prayer is, if we don’t study God’s word to know Him, His general position on what we prayed for, and the specific “rhema” word for that situation, we reduce the effectiveness of our prayer. A rhema word simply means that as you study scripture after praying, a verse “jumps out” at you, or the Holy Spirit gives you deeper understanding of how that scripture applies to your prayer. That’s the quickening of the word, and it’s effectively God declaring His answer on what you’ve prayed for.
God also answers prayer through His leading. Scripture says it is not in man to direct his own steps, the Lord directs them (Jeremiah 10:23, Proverbs 16:9). Commit whatever you do to the Lord, and He will direct your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 37:5). God answers prayer by leading and directing us toward the fulfillment of what we’ve asked for.
For many prayers, once God has given us the rhema word, if the situation calls for His direct intervention, He’ll act while we trust Him to work things out for our good. Other times, we have to take steps ourselves for the answer to manifest, and it’s in those moments that God directs our steps, showing us, from His perspective, a path we couldn’t see from our own. These are the two most common ways God answers prayer.
In summary: prayer is communication with God. We bring our requests to Him, and He answers primarily through His word and through His leading.
How Should We Pray? The Lord’s Prayer Model Explained
When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, He gave them a model to follow. Breaking down the Lord’s Prayer in our anchor scripture shows us the components of that model.
“Our Father” — Jesus starts by revealing that the most important posture in prayer is recognizing God as our Father, and coming to Him as children asking a good Father for our needs. This relationship matters because Jesus came to reconcile us to God as our Father, by paying the price for our sins and redeeming us back to Him. So the first step in prayer is accepting God as our Father by accepting the sacrifice of Jesus that redeemed us.
“Hallowed be Your name” — after accepting God as Father, we hallow His name, presenting ourselves in worship. Heartfelt prayer begins from a posture of worship.
“Your kingdom come, Your will be done” — next, Jesus teaches us what to seek first. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Before we ask for anything else, we pray for God’s kingdom and His will to be done in our lives. This aligns us with God, and His Spirit in us helps us pray according to His will as Romans 8:26-27 puts it: “the Spirit helps us in our weakness… the Spirit himself intercedes for us… in accordance with the will of God.” That alignment matters because when we’re aligned with God’s will, we’re living according to the plan He’s already written for us (Psalm 139:16).
“Give us day by day our daily bread” — Jesus then teaches us to take life one day at a time. It’s unwise to boast about tomorrow or plan around a day we aren’t guaranteed to see (Proverbs 27:1; James 4:13-16). This doesn’t mean we don’t plan at all, it’s a call to patience and presence, praying for God’s provision for today.
“Forgive us our sins… as we forgive” — next we ask forgiveness for where we’ve fallen short, and just as importantly, we forgive anyone who’s wronged us, whether or not they’ve apologized. We forgive because God has forgiven us.
“Deliver us from the evil one” — finally, we pray for deliverance from temptation and protection from the enemy, who scripture describes as a roaring lion seeking whom to devour. We fall into sin when we’re drawn away by our own desires (James 1:13-16), so we ask God to strengthen us against temptations, and to deliver us from the enemy’s schemes.
This is a beautiful, workable order for our own prayer life, one we can return to again and again.
The last piece of prayer is praying in Jesus’ name. In our anchor scripture, Jesus hadn’t yet taught this, that came later, as He prepared His disciples for His death, resurrection, and return to heaven. In John 16:24, He said, “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” So the final part of prayer is asking the Father in Jesus’ name, sealed by the fact that Jesus tore the veil for us all to approach the Father through His sacrifice, and in Him, God has freely given us everything we need.
That’s the model for how we’re to approach God in prayer.
How to Start Praying: Your First Prayer to God
From everything we’ve covered, the very first posture in the model prayer Jesus taught is one of fatherhood and sonship with God. Scripture tells us the Spirit cries out “Abba, Father” when we’re reconciled to God through the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins.
The well-loved John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Jesus is God’s greatest expression of love toward humanity, and through Him we’re reconciled to God, having previously been separated by sin. Through Him, we are offered forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.
The best and first prayer anyone can pray is one of reconciliation with God through Jesus — responding to His sacrifice, accepting God’s unfailing love as a Father, and inviting Jesus Christ into your life as Lord and Savior. If you haven’t consciously done that before, you’re welcome to pray this:
“Dear Lord Jesus, I admit that I have sinned and fallen short of Your glory. Today, I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I ask that You help me receive Your love toward me, and to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
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Frequently Asked Questions About Prayer
How does God answer prayers?
From this post, we can say God answers prayers primarily by speaking to us through His Son Jesus Christ, which means He speaks to us today through the word of God. He also answers prayer by leading and directing our steps toward the answer.
When does God answer prayers, or does He delay them?
God moves to answer us speedily. In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus gives the parable of a widow who kept appealing to an unjust judge, and though the judge didn’t care about her, her persistence wore him down until he answered her. Our God is not an unjust judge who delays our answers for no reason, or withholds good things, or gives us something harmful in place of what we asked for. Matthew 7:11 says that if imperfect earthly parents know how to give good gifts, how much more will God. Proverbs 3:27 adds that it’s wrong to withhold good when it’s in your power to give it. God isn’t in the business of withholding our answers.
That said, the parable of the widow and the unjust judge is really about learning to persevere in prayer through faith, because some answers require a natural process that God won’t skip. Imagine a child who hasn’t learned to drive asking for the fastest car in the world, even loving parents who could afford it wouldn’t hand it over until the child is ready to handle it responsibly. In the same way, some of the blessings we pray for require us to grow into the character needed to handle them well, so God takes time developing us rather than letting the blessing destroy us.
Consider Abraham and Sarah, who God promised a child for so long that they eventually tried to make it happen on their own terms. God was still shaping Abraham’s character, and once he was ready, God said of him, “I know that he will direct his children… to keep the way of the Lord” (Genesis 18:19). Then God gave them a child, and “Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the very time God had promised him” (Genesis 21:2). God cares about our wellbeing, not just for today, but for our future, when His blessing arrives.
Are there prayers God doesn’t answer?
Scripture says every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness (James 1:16-17). As long as what we ask is good, perfect, and aligned with God’s will for us, I believe God answers, it may take time if a process needs to unfold, but He does answer. So the prayers God doesn’t answer as we hoped are most likely prayers misaligned with His will, or requests for things He can see would harm us later, even when we can’t see it ourselves.
That’s why trust matters so much in how and when God chooses to answer. Which brings us back to where we started: we pray not because God doesn’t already know what we want, but because we’re giving Him permission to act in the way He knows is best, for our own good, and for the relationship with Him that becomes more important than the answer itself, even when our prayers seem delayed or unanswered.
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