The problem is that human nature wearies of duty when it is only done for duty's sake. God, however, seeks to encourage man at every turn in those duties of godliness to which He calls us, by promising great benefit to the believer. So, in pursuit of the answer of why we should pray, let us do so with an eye to the benefit that God promises to bestow upon us in the activity.
First of all though, let it be clear that prayer ought not to be pursued for the sake of prayer, but rather as the means to an end, an instrument of faith designed to mine a great treasure. At the first awakening of the soul by the regenerating Spirit of God, man realizes an emptiness that can only be filled outside of himself. The initial realization of the convert is that he lacks all the necessary tools or means to salvation. God intends this to drive the sinner to Christ the Savior in whom He reveals Himself.
In Christ, God offers the rich benefits of His grace to fill our emptiness. He opens to the believer the heavenly treasures that our faith comprehends are obtained through His beloved Son. The marked difference between the Christian and the unbeliever is the degree of the hope that is worked into the heart of the believer. The Christian is one who lives in earnest expectation of a future heavenly fullness of things that have begun in this life.
Faith instructs the Christian to recognize that all we need and all that we lack is found in God, and in our Lord Jesus Christ through whom comes God's grace, mercy, and peace (Jn. 1:16, Rom. 5:1-2). It is the desire for a greater portion of these blessings that is to shape the Christian's life as one of pursuit. The believer is compelled by the Spirit who pours a love for God into the heart to seek after an intimate relationship with God.
How then are we to do this seeking? God has not left us in the dark on this matter, but spells out explicitly not only how to seek but what the benefits will be in the process and the result of the seeking. Jesus, in the great Sermon on the Mount, said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (the daily needs for existence) will be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). This instruction follows our Lord's teaching on setting priorities in verses 19-21, where He speaks of pursuing treasure, specifically heavenly treasure with an eternal benefit. He sums up by saying, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
The heavenly treasure that is the heart's desire for the Christian is to be so united to our loving God that our knowledge of Him is intimate. Paul speaks with a sense of being overwhelmed in 2 Corinthians 4:7, that "we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." The treasure he spoke of was the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The primary treasure-hunting tools for the Christian are Bible study and prayer. Through understanding the Word of God man comes to have real knowledge of the God who has revealed Himself in His Word. But the treasure we seek is more than an academic knowledge of the Bible. It is a personal and saving knowledge of the Creator of the heavens and the earth, who, by His Holy Spirit, has revealed Himself as our heavenly Father.
Having come to the understanding through faith that God gives His grace and Holy Spirit only to those who earnestly and without ceasing ask them of Him, the Christian approaches God with thanksgiving for having been given the gift of eternal life that comes only through the grace found in the saving work of Jesus Christ (HC 116).
It is impossible for the Christian who has been raised unto new life to be indifferent about calling upon God. In the same way that faith is worked in us by the gospel, so our hearts are enlivened to call upon the God who has given us the breath of life (Rom. 10:14-17). Moreover, it is the new life we have been given by God that draws us more and more to Him as in the pursuit of treasure. We hunger for that spiritual fullness. We grasp to embrace the glory of God, to be filled with His peace and strength that stand in direct contrast to the chaos of the world we live in. It is righteousness that we seek, and not just any righteousness, it is the righteousness of God that He imparts to us on account of all the Savior has accomplished on our behalf. It is that sense, not only that our sins are forgiven, but that we now are so transformed by the renewing of our minds that the glory of God shines forth from us (Rom. 12:1-2).
God has ordained prayer as one of the tools to help us mine treasures from heaven. It is by prayer that we reach upward, as the destitute beggar, for those eternal riches which are laid up for us with the Heavenly Father. As such, God encourages us against laziness or neglect in prayer by speaking in several places of the benefit that comes not only from prayer, but from persistent prayer. The reason that the Christian is instructed to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17) is that we need to live with the sense that God desires to enrich us each and every moment in our love for living a God-centered life. To this end we understand that prayer is not for us to instruct God, but to stir us up in the pursuit of heavenly blessing.
Furthermore, God is clear that He desires for us to apply ourselves in the duties of Christian living, and especially in coming into His presence in prayer when He says, "You do not have, because you do not ask" (James 4:3). There are numerous passages where God says, "Ask and you shall receive." From this we learn that nothing is promised to be expected from the Lord, which we are not also called upon to ask of Him in prayers. Through prayer we dig up the treasures that are pointed out by the gospel, and which our faith has taught is promised us that we will find if we seek them.
In conclusion, we should actively engage in prayer because of the following benefits. First, prayer works in us a burning love and zeal to seek and serve God. Second, we come to recognize that our desires are laid out before an all-seeing God who knows our hearts. This causes us to guard our desires and bring ourselves to serve Him with our whole heart. Third, prayer nurtures in us a deep appreciation for all the benefits flowing from God's hand. Fourth, as we sense God's answers to our prayers we come to understand more personally His goodness in our lives. Fifth, we are stirred to pursue even more vigorously those things which have already come to us with great benefit through prayer. Ultimately, we should realize that the use and experience of prayer develops in us a great confidence in the providence of God that enables us to be a people who live in the unshakeable hope of our God, who is directing our paths (Prov. 3:6).
